Overview
- On a podcast clip shared to X, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Americans are the “sickest people in the world,” blaming ultra-processed foods and government misinformation.
- Kennedy cited soaring chronic-disease costs, claiming $4.3 trillion is spent annually and asserting roughly 40 cents of every federal tax dollar goes to treatment.
- Jonathan Reiner, a cardiologist who treated Vice President Dick Cheney, rejected the characterization on X and called the claim “bulls---,” urging better diets and routine vaccination.
- Raw Story reports a U.S. vaccine advisory committee meeting was scrapped, with no new CDC date announced following recent disputes over vaccine policy.
- Reiner further claimed on X that the White House is reining in HHS, saying the acting CDC director was removed, leadership changes were made at HHS, and the FDA reversed course on reviewing Moderna’s flu vaccine.