Opinions

Opinion: RFK Jr. would be bad for healthcare in Alaska, and should not be confirmed as DHHS Secretary

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Trump's nominee to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies during a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing for his pending confirmation on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

We are members of the Healthy Alaskans Coalition, a group that has shared information on healthcare in Alaska since 2017. We are profoundly concerned about the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to become secretary of the US Department of Health & Human Services (DHHS) for the following reasons:

Competence Issues: Extraordinarily little in Kennedy’s background prepares him to successfully manage DHHS, which has an annual budget of more than $1.5 trillion. Kennedy is an ideologue; he is not a medical expert. RFK Jr. lacks appropriate medical credentials for healthcare leadership, including any of the following:

  • Academic medical training
  • Health care expertise
  • Experience in public health
  • Relevant administrative experience
  • Involvement in any sort of scientific research
  • Authorship of medical or scientific publications

Fringe Beliefs: Kennedy has a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation and bizarre conspiracy theories on vaccines, fluoride in public drinking water, and other public health interventions. Despite overwhelming evidence as to the safety and lifesaving power of vaccines, Kennedy continues to distribute disinformation about them. In 2023, he claimed that “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” However, in a major review, the National Academy of Medicine has attested to the safety and effectiveness of eight vaccines to children and adults.

Public Health and Vaccines Save Alaskan Lives: America has accomplished near-total eradication of several deadly diseases through early detection, management, and vaccinations, including those for diphtheria, mumps, polio, rubella, smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, and tetanus. Many of these diseases have caused major public health challenges for Alaska in the past. Alaskans are deeply proud of the 1925 dog-sled heroism that brought the life-saving diphtheria antitoxin to Nome in the dead of winter. The control of these preventable diseases through public health measures and vaccine availability will continue to lead to better health for Alaskans.

Doctors in Alaska and Nationwide Oppose the Nomination: A letter signed by 17,000 U.S. doctors sent to all U.S. senators by the Committee to Protect Healthcare states: “We are appalled at Donald Trump’s reckless decision to appoint Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services. The health and well-being of 336 million Americans depend on leadership at HHS that prioritizes science, evidence-based medicine and strengthening the integrity of our public health system. RFK Jr. is not only unqualified to lead this essential agency, he is actively dangerous.” In addition, the Alaska State Medical Association, which represents a large number of healthcare professionals in Alaska, asserts that “health decisions should be made in a scientific way with policy firmly grounded in evidence-based data. The health of the American public is too important to leave supervised by someone without impeccable credentials.” Two recent ADN commentaries, one from retired Alaskan physicians and the other from Alaskan pediatricians, urge Alaskans to call for rejection of the nomination of RFK Jr. due to the potential negative impacts of the nominee’s anti-vaccine rhetoric and actions on public health.

Bad for healthcare in Alaska: Alaskans are deeply aware of the struggle to obtain adequate healthcare. Healthcare costs are skyrocketing, causing challenges for small businesses, cities, schools, and the state government. The federal government looms large in Alaska healthcare: out of approximately 750,000 Alaska residents, more than 200,000 receive services from Medicaid, 118,000 receive Medicare services, and more than 150,000 are receiving care through the Indian Health Service. We must not lose any ground in healthcare due to the nomination of RFK Jr. to lead the DHHS, which oversees all of the above agencies.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should not be confirmed. If confirmed, we feel the adverse effects to Alaska will last far into the future. Alaskans deserve much better than this. We urge Alaskans to contact Senator Sullivan and Senator Murkowski as soon as possible about this issue.

ADVERTISEMENT

Luann McVey, MAT

Robert Sewell, MA, Ph.D.

Carolyn V Brown, MD, MPH

Patricia Harris

Mark Millard, LCSW, MSW

Julie Nielsen

The Healthy Alaskans Coalition is a group of medical professionals and concerned citizens from all walks of life based in Juneau. We strive to increase awareness of healthcare issues that affect Alaskans through conversations with the public as well as elected officials.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.

ADVERTISEMENT