President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly said he would put RFK Jr. in charge of federal health agencies

Summary

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed to overhaul parts of the FDA, specifically targeting the agency’s nutrition department, which he claims “are not doing their jobs” and failing to protect public health.

Kennedy, a known opponent of vaccinations and the pharmaceutical industry, said he could “clear out” corruption in health agencies. President-elect Donald Trump has indicated he would give Kennedy significant influence over health policy, though Trump’s campaign denied he would lead HHS.

Experts and family members warn that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine stance could have serious public health repercussions.

  • _thebrain_@sh.itjust.works
    10·
    16 days ago

    A lot of Mr brain worms plans would seriously cut into the profits of major pharmaceuticals and agricultural behemoths that are major donors of Trump’s campaign. I can’t imagine them allowing trump to cut into their profits like that.

    • catloaf@lemm.eeEnglish
      5·
      16 days ago

      I’m not sure that vaccines are actually profitable without subsidies. They’d probably rather milk their cash cows like price-gouged insulin and trendy medications like ozempic.

      • _thebrain_@sh.itjust.works
        61·
        16 days ago

        Afaik profit is profit whether it’s from subsidies or sales. On top of that, the government gave them grants to develop said vaccines, so r&d was highly discounted… Production of most vaccines as way cheap compared to r&d, so I doubt there is ever any “selling for a loss”. Combine that with state mandates requiring kids to get vaccines before attending school (I’m not saying this is bad… Public health is a good thing), and you have a captive customer base.

      • _thebrain_@sh.itjust.works
        31·
        16 days ago

        Afaik profit is profit whether it’s from subsidies or sales. On top of that, the government gave them grants to develop said vaccines, so r&d was highly discounted… Production of most vaccines as way cheap compared to r&d, so I doubt there is ever any “selling for a loss”. Combine that with state mandates requiring kids to get vaccines before attending school (I’m not saying this is bad… Public health is a good thing), and you have a captive customer base.

    • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      2·
      15 days ago

      I can’t imagine them allowing trump to cut into their profits like that.

      Yeah, that’s not how the dynamic between business and government works under fascism. I would advise you to read about Germany and Italy in the late 1930s/early 1940s