On Feb. 13, the U.S. Senate voted in Robert F. Kennedy as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Department has a budget of nearly $2 trillion dollars, and contains several health agencies, from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to the National Institute of Health (NIH). Collectively, the 13 operating HHS divisions oversee undertakings like Medicare and Medicaid, vaccination, food ingredients, and overall, decisions that impact health and safety of Americans.
Despite the vastness and importance of the Department, Kennedy is completely unfit to lead. The former environmental lawyer has almost no background in healthcare or any sort of public health degree. He’s also spread many false conspiracy theories, such as asserting that vaccines cause autism, or that the COVID-19 virus was “ethically targeted” towards Caucasians. And with measles outbreaks on the rise, Americans need more than a lawyer controlling their health.
“I would definitely expect a degree in public health, or a medical degree or doctorate. But I do know that [RFK] has a law degree … which I think is helpful in some ways, but doesn’t give him the background that he needs at all to actually push out good legislation and policy,” Raya Wolyniec, a senior planning to major in public health, said.
Kennedy is campaigning for the banning of water fluoride and food dyes under the slogan “Make America Healthy Again,” or MAHA, claiming that fluoridated water is an “industrial waste”. Although fluoridation decisions are made on a state and local level (State College ceased water fluoridation in 2023), Kennedy stated that the Trump administration will advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water.
Yet water fluoridation was named of the CDC’s Ten Great Public Health Achievements at the end of the 20th century. It reduces cavities in children and adults by 25%. 72% of Americans receive fluoridated water from community water systems, and studies show that it continues to improve oral health.
“[There is] excellent, solid data going back 75 years, showing that fluoride is both safe and it’s extremely effective at decreasing dental decay, that is, cavities, by strengthening the enamel of our teeth,” Dr. Aaron Yancoskie, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Touro College of Dental Medicine, said to CBS Mornings Plus.
Along with water fluoridation laws, Kennedy is also campaigning for the banning of food dyes, which could actually be beneficial for Americans.
Currently, many food dyes permitted in America, such as Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6, are banned in some EU countries. Dyes are banned due to several serious health effects: mainly carcinogenicity, hypersensitivity reactions, and behavioral effects.
The food dye ban movement came after California prohibited the use of Red No. 3 in food, with the FDA following suit, banning the dye on Jan. 15. However, companies are not required to actually remove the dye until 2027, meaning that consumers will still be ingesting the cancer-causing dye for the next two years.
“I think [food dyes] are very unnecessary and most of the food dyes that we use are banned in other countries … and I think that is for good reason,” Wolyniec said. “They provide no nutritional value, and are only for making food look better.”
Kennedy is looking to end a loophole that allows food companies to “self-affirm” if ingredients are safe, which lets companies bypass FDA regulations.
“Thousands of chemicals are already being used in our food without ever having been reviewed by the FDA, or without having been reviewed by the FDA for many decades,” Scott Faber, Senior Vice President for Government Affairs at the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement.
But that might be the only good thing Kennedy does. He famously disagrees with vaccination, falsely claiming that vaccines cause a variety of side effects- despite the preventive treatment going through the most rigorous testing possible. “I do believe that autism comes from vaccines,” Kennedy said in an interview with Fox News.
Yet vaccines also made the Ten Great Public Health Achievements list. Global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years, according to a study by The Lancet. That’s six lives every minute.
“Vaccines are among the most powerful inventions in history, making once-feared diseases preventable,” WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said. “Thanks to vaccines, smallpox has been eradicated, polio is on the brink, and with the more recent development of vaccines against diseases like malaria and cervical cancer, we are pushing back the frontiers of disease.”
State High students, along with all other public school students, are required to be vaccinated in order to attend school. The list of vaccines for PA schools can be found here. School Registered Nurse (RN) Melissa Coble elaborated on this requirement.
“We follow the Department of Health guidelines in ensuring that our school district is compliant with those guidelines for vaccines, and vaccines are important because they help keep our school safe,” Coble said.
Although vaccination requirements are decided at the state level, Kennedy could have the ability to influence such requirements— conceivably deciding the makeup of vaccine advisory committees, or exerting changes in immunization schedules.
“I would feel really unsafe and scared if a lot of students were not vaccinated or did not have to be vaccinated in school,” Wolyniec said.
Right now, many vaccine-preventable diseases aren’t being spread because of herd immunity, or the herd effect. According to Cleveland Clinic, it’s when enough people are immune to a disease that the infection can’t spread.
“If [vaccines] are optional, then the herd effect, or the effect where you see that people are not experiencing vaccine-preventable diseases, would no longer be effective at protecting the school community,” Coble said.
Kennedy’s views on vaccination and water fluoridation present huge concerns for the safety of America. There’s room to hope for the better when it comes to food dyes, but Americans must stay alert and informed if Kennedy’s policies threaten their health.
