Six former U.S. surgeons general have publicly condemned Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, calling his leadership a “profound, immediate, and unprecedented threat” to the health and safety of Americans.
The letter, published in The Washington Post, was written by Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello, and David Satcher—who have all served as surgeon general and have collectively served under every Republican and Democratic president since George H. W. Bush.
The surgeons general warned that Kennedy is “endangering the health of the nation.”
Such a letter from bipartisan surgeons general essentially calling for the removal of a DHHS director is unprecedented.
“Over recent months, we have watched with increasing alarm as the foundations of our nation’s public health system have been undermined,” the letter states. “Science and expertise have taken a back seat to ideology and misinformation. Morale has plummeted in our health agencies, and talent is fleeing at a time when we face rising threats — from resurgent infectious diseases to worsening chronic illnesses.”
The letter calls for a leader who “respects scientific integrity and transparency, listens to experts, and can restore trust to the federal health apparatus.”
“Instead, Kennedy has become a driving force behind that crisis.”
The letter comes on the heels of President Donald Trump and Kennedy’s joint, highly contested announcement, that pregnant women using Tylenol is a driving cause of autism in children.
Before that, Kennedy—a long-time vaccine skeptic and leading voice of suspicion when the Covid-19 vaccines became available—made clear he wanted to rework the nation’s vaccine policy.
“Kennedy has spent decades advancing dangerous and discredited claims about vaccines—most notoriously, the thoroughly discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism,” the letter says. “He has promoted misinformation about the HPV vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, and he has repeatedly misrepresented the risks of mRNA technology and coronavirus vaccines, despite their lifesaving impact during the pandemic.”
In June, Kennedy authorized the firing of the 17-member Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, and in September he fired former CDC Director Susan Monarez.
Monarez claims she was fired after she refused to rubber-stamp Kennedy’s vaccine policies without first checking them against existing scientific evidence.
The surgeons general said that Kennedy’s replacements for the fired federal workers lack “basic qualifications” and that some are even “vaccine conspiracy theorists.”
“The new committee has already begun casting doubt on the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns, despite decades of data affirming its effectiveness and strong safety profile,” the letter says.
During his presidential campaign, Trump said he would let Kennedy “go wild” on federal health agencies, and it appears as though that is exactly what is happening.
Kennedy oversees federal agencies that collectively have access to $2 trillion in funding and that affect every American—and have the potential to affect much of the broader world as well.
Medicare and Medicaid, the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and other agencies are all under Kennedy’s control.
“It’s worth reminding ourselves what Kennedy puts at risk. The FDA approves lifesaving drugs and holds pharmaceutical companies to high standards of safety and effectiveness. NIH pursues and funds cutting-edge research. CDC leads in emergencies from pandemics to opioids to natural disasters,” the letter says.
It continues, noting that the DHHS confronts mental health and substance abuse issues, addresses primary care shortages, and provides health insurance coverage for millions of Americans who are elderly, disabled, or who cannot afford coverage.
“Mismanaging HHS endangers America’s health, undermines national security, and damages our economic resilience and international credibility,” the letter says.
The letter notes that the U.S. experienced its worst measles outbreak in more than 30 years this year, but rather than pushing Americans toward vaccines, Kennedy suggested they take vitamins to combat the illness.
“The result: a months-long outbreak, three preventable deaths, and the first measles-related child death in the U.S. in over two decades,” the letter says.
The surgeons general aren’t the only experts loudly ringing alarm bells to warn the public about the risk Kennedy poses to all Americans.
The letter notes that the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and other leading health organizations came together and called on Americans to disregard the DHHS’s guidance on prenatal Tylenol use.
On Monday, two psychiatric organizations—the Southern California Psychiatry Society and the grassroots Committee to Protect Public Mental Health—released statements calling for Kennedy to be replaced as the head of DHHS, NPR reports.
“As physicians committed to evidence-based care, we are alarmed by the direction of HHS under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” the committee said in a statement.
“Secretary Kennedy remains firmly committed to delivering on President Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again by dismantling the failed status quo, restoring public trust in health institutions, and ensuring the transparency, accountability, and decision-making power the American people voted for,” Emily Hilliard, a spokesperson for the DHHS, wrote in response to the psychiatrists’ statements.
Kennedy has not yet responded to the surgeons general’s letter. The Independent has requested comment.
“Secretary Kennedy is entitled to his views,” the surgeons general write. “But he is not entitled to put people’s health at risk.”
