Overview
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leads HHS and Dr. Mehmet Oz oversees Medicare and Medicaid, elevating figures widely criticized for promoting medical misinformation.
- Opinion coverage reports that the FDA refused to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine last week, a move critics say tracks with anti-mRNA rhetoric from new power brokers.
- Commentators cite an early resurgence of once-nearly eliminated infectious diseases during President Trump’s current term, linking the uptick to anti-vaccine politics.
- Allies of RFK Jr. are described as pushing to block state childhood-vaccine mandates, expanding the effort beyond federal levers.
- Analysts note a booming wellness economy—about $500 billion in U.S. spending with roughly $70 billion for supplements—enabled by permissive labeling rules summarized by the NIH.