Latest news with #CalleyMeans
Yahoo
7 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Calley Means: MAHA report errors a great disservice to Trump, RFK Jr.
(NewsNation) — The White House announced it would be fixing errors in its MAHA report after it was found that there were sources cited in it that did not MAHA advisor Calley Means says it's unfortunate the MAHA report had issues with citations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
These countries don't fluoridate their water – here's why
With water fluoridation of drinking water under the spotlight in the US, we look at why some countries choose not to add the mineral to supplies while others have repealed the practice. Opposition to fluoride is spreading. The mineral was there, in the recent "Make America Healthy Again" report on childhood disease, among a long list of factors blamed for a crisis of chronic disease afflicting children in the United States. Wellness influencer Calley Means, who is now an adviser to the US government, has called drinking water fluoridation an "attack on lower income kids" and suggested that parents should throw out their children's toothpaste if they find it contains fluoride. His views on fluoride appear to align with those of Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US Health and Human Services Secretary. His sister, Casey Means, is also Donald Trump's nominee to serve as the US Surgeon General. Yet, ever since scientists noticed that people had lower rates of tooth decay in areas with naturally higher levels of fluoride in the water, in some areas it has been added to drinking water in an effort to improve dental health. At the end of March 2025, however, Utah became the first US state to ban the use of fluoride in the public water supply. In early May, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that bans "certain additives" in the water system, which would include fluoride – ending a practice that dates back to 1949 in the state. And in April, Kennedy Jr announced that he would direct the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend against fluoridating water and the Environmental Protection Agency is holding an urgent review of the scientific evidence on any potential health risks of adding fluoride to water. Many scientists consider community water fluoridation to be a public health victory – one that has resulted in lower rates of dental decay and better oral health overall for millions of people worldwide. Some recent reviews of the evidence have suggested that the beneficial effects may not be as pronounced as they were 50 years ago before fluoride in toothpaste was widely available – although they still find a benefit. A 2016 review of fluoridation in Australia, for example, found that water fluoridation reduced dental decay in children's first teeth by about 35%, while a 2022 health monitoring report for England also found that it reduced tooth decay in 3-year-olds by 35%. This effect is greatest for children living in more deprived areas, who may have less access to dental care or even to regular tooth-brushing with fluoride at all. First introduced in the city of Grand Rapids in the US state of Michigan in 1945, community water fluoridation today is practised in about 25 countries, including parts of the UK, Spain, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia and Brazil. In total, fluoridated drinking water reaches more than 400 million people worldwide. In the US, approximately 63% of the population – 209 million people – receive fluoridated water. For nearly 12 million of those people, the mineral is not added, but occurs naturally in the water supply. One argument put forward against fluoridation is that some studies have linked fluoride exposure to slightly lower average IQ scores in children, as outlined in a 2025 meta-analysis – a type of study that combines the results of several other studies – of the research. Detailed reviews of the evidence, however, have concluded that this association occurs when the levels of fluoride are twice the recommended limit in the US and scientists have found significant methodological and statistical issues with the 2025 meta-analysis. Those opposed to artificial drinking water fluoridation also often point to the fact that most countries around the world don't add the mineral to water. But is that true? And, if it is, why don't those countries fluoridate their water – and what have the outcomes been? Fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral, thought to help prevent tooth decay by strengthening the hard outer layer of teeth, known as enamel, and replacing the minerals lost from our teeth from the acid produced when we eat. Many people apply it topically (for example with a toothpaste). However, studies suggest that a more continuous, systemic, low-dose exposure – such as through drinking water – can be especially effective in children, whose bones and teeth are still forming. One 2019 review of 32 studies, for example, found that children who lived in areas with fluoridated water tended to have lower levels of tooth decay – also known as dental caries – than those who didn't. "The difference between a toothpaste and water is that, assuming that people drink water during the day, they have a constant exposure to fluoride at a very low concentration," says Vida Zohoori, professor in public health and nutrition at the UK's Teesside University who focuses on researching fluoride and a co-author of the International Association for Dental, Oral and Craniofacial Research (IADR) 2022 guidelines on community water fluoridation. "The benefit comes from constant exposure to low levels of fluoride." This is especially noticeable for children from more socioeconomically deprived backgrounds. "Community water fluoridation is to close the gap between poor and well-off people," says Zohoori. "It reaches everybody – the whole population, not just specific people – so it reduces general health inequality." She points to the difference between the town where her university is located, Middlesbrough, in Yorkshire in the north of England, versus the neighbouring town of Hartlepool. Both communities are socioeconomically disadvantaged. But Hartlepool's water has naturally occurring levels of fluoride of up to 1.3mg/L, while Middlesbrough does not. "Middlesbrough is one of the counties with the highest levels of tooth decay in children, whereas Hartlepool has much less," she says. In March, England's Department of Health and Social Care recommended expanding community water fluoridation to areas of north-east England, including Middlesbrough. More like this:• How to properly brush your teeth• The silent dangers of deep gum disease• Is there really an autism 'epidemic'? Too much fluoride can also be a problem, though. More than 1.5mg of fluoride per litre has been found to potentially cause dental fluorosis, usually a cosmetic condition that gives teeth white spots. And more than 6mg/L can cause skeletal fluorosis, a serious bone condition that can be crippling. As a result, WHO guidelines recommend that drinking water contains no more than 1.5mg/L of fluoride. In the US, the Public Health Service recommends up to 0.7mg/L while water companies that fluoridate water in England are asked to keep concentrations under 1.0 mg/L. Concerns around excessive fluoride intake are one reason why some countries have chosen not to artificially fluoridate their water supplies – but only because their drinking water already has naturally high levels of fluoride. Fluoride occurs in soil, plants and water. Some types of rocks and soil have higher concentrations than others. "It really comes down to geochemistry," says Joel Podgorski, a senior scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in Dübendorf, Switzerland. "Certain lithologies have more of these fluoride-containing minerals." In particular, he notes, igneous rocks, such as those formed by lava, tend to contain more fluoride. The presence of rocks containing fluoride can raise fluoride levels in groundwater. In Italy, for example, fluoride concentrations in water range from around 0.1 to 6.1 mg/L – but in areas with volcanic rock, fluoride levels can reach up to 30.2 mg/L. In some areas, such as Lazio or Calabria, fluoride is actively removed, or water is diluted in order to keep public supplies below the 1.5mg/L limit recommended by the WHO and the EU, says Tommaso Filippini, associate professor of epidemiology and public health at Italy's University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Filippini has authored several papers on fluoridation. But there are a variety of other reasons that countries don't fluoridate their water supplies. In Europe, a 2018 report found that, of 28 EU nations, only Ireland, parts of the UK and Spain currently fluoridate their water supplies. Eleven countries had done so in the past but stopped. Fourteen never started. However, countries that ceased water fluoridation programmes did not say that they did so because authorities there were concerned about public safety, says lead author Mary Rose Sweeney, a public health researcher who at the time of publication was working at Dublin City University in Ireland and now works at Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and is vice president of the European Public Health Association's nutrition section. Instead, some countries cited public complaints, such as from people who thought it was a violation of their human rights, or said it was up to individuals to manage their own fluoride intake. Others pointed to the fact that their populations got enough fluoride elsewhere. Of 11 countries that had ceased their fluoridation programmes, only two cited questions about safety and efficacy – Finland said fluoride's efficacy hadn't been proved, while the Czech Republic cited "debates" about fluoridation's safety and efficacy. None said they stopped fluoridation because they had determined that fluoride was harmful. For some of those populations, fluoride was naturally available in drinking water but for others, certain food and drink products contained fluoride. According to the 2018 report, Bulgaria fluoridated its milk while Greece added the mineral to bottled water. These differing approaches to fluoridation exist outside the EU as well, says Zohoori, who is currently leading a study comparing national fluoridation schemes in Brazil, the UK, Colombia, and Chile. "Some countries, like Switzerland, have fluoridated salt," she says. "Brazil has fluoridated water; Colombia, fluoridated salt; Chile, fluoridated milk." A 2012 review of Asian countries found that countries that chose not to fluoridate their water typically did so for one of three reasons: high naturally occurring levels of fluoride (as in parts of India); technical or financial barriers (such as in Nepal); or because fluoride was provided to communities in other ways. Take Thailand, which doesn't fluoridate its water but which has the world's largest milk fluoridation program. Milk fortified with 2.5mg/L of fluoride is provided to more than one million children daily, for free, in public schools. Children also receive fluoridated milk during the school holidays. Thailand's programme includes oral health education, check-ups, fluoride varnish – a fluoride-containing varnish applied to the teeth, usually by a dentist – and supervised tooth-brushing sessions with fluoride-containing toothpaste. One study found that, at a cost of just THB 11.88 ($0.40) per child, per year, this approach reduced the prevalence of children's dental caries by more than a third. Meanwhile, salt fluoridation is the second most common way that countries deliver the mineral to their populations, after drinking water fluoridation, according to a 2018 review. The first country to add fluoride to salt was Switzerland. Table salt there has contained fluoride since 1955. Like milk fluoridation, salt fluoridation is effective at reducing tooth decay, but less so than water fluoridation. Fluoridated salt contributes around 0.5-0.75mg of fluoride to a person's intake per day, on average, while adults need about 3mg daily. Zohoori says salt might not be the best option overall. "As a nutritionist, I don't want to promote the consumption of salt," she says. "To me, fluoridated water is the best method." Access to dental care can also influence countries' decisions to fluoridate water. One 2015 study found huge disparities in access to dental health care – generally tied to better oral health – between the US and a selection European countries. In five of the 10 European countries surveyed, more than 75% of respondents had dental coverage. That included 98% of respondents in Germany, 96% in the Czech Republic, and 92% in Denmark. In the US, just 48% had dental coverage, in comparison. Still, Zohoori urges care when looking at the relatively low levels of water fluoridation in Europe as a reason to stop doing it elsewhere. Europe, she points out, doesn't have a great dental health record. A 2023 WHO report found that Europe had the highest prevalence of major oral disease, including the most caries in permanent teeth, of any region in the world. More than one in three adults had dental caries. "Across the 28 EU countries, the cost of dental caries is higher than for Alzheimer's, cancer [or] stroke," says Zahoori. "Caries are the third-costliest health issue overall – behind just diabetes and cardiovascular disease." In Japan, drinking water supplies are not artificially fluoridated, but the mineral is distributed to the public through other means, such as fluoride mouth-rinses in schools in many prefectures. Some researchers argue that Japan should consider changing its policy on drinking water fluoridation. A 2023 study of nearly 35,000 children, which followed them between the ages of five and a half to 12, found that four out of every 10 seven-year-olds had had dental treatment for caries in the previous year alone. That's a high proportion given that children in Japan, on average, consume less sugar and fewer sweets than their European peers. Researchers also found that children in Japan who lived in areas with more naturally occurring fluoride had fewer caries. Each 0.1 part per million increase in fluoride concentrations correlated with a roughly 3.3% reduction in the prevalence of caries. "This finding suggests the possibility to reduce dental caries through fluoride utilisation at a population level in Japan," the study authors wrote. While some countries such as the US debate removing fluoride from water, other regions, notably, have taken such a step only to reverse it. A famous example is Calgary, Canada, which stopped fluoridating its local water supply in 2011 – and then, after a rise in tooth decay there, decided to reinstate fluoridation earlier this year. "At the end of the day, if fluoride is removed from water, it will be another health inequality. It will be the disadvantaged communities who will disproportionately feel the effects," Sweeney says. -- For trusted insights into better health and wellbeing rooted in science, sign up to the Health Fix newsletter, while The Essential List delivers a handpicked selection of features and insights. For more science, technology, environment and health stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Politico
23-05-2025
- Health
- Politico
The MAHA sphere of influence
Presented by Programming note: Morning Pulse will be off on Monday but back in your inboxes on Tuesday, May 27. Driving The Day FIRST IN PULSE: THE MAHA DIVIDE — The top outside-of-government influencers of the Make America Healthy Again movement, which focuses on combating chronic disease, are largely split between tackling Big Pharma or Big Food, a new analysis from consulting firm Baron Public Affairs found. Of the 15 external influencers with the strongest links to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his MAHA initiative, six are most concerned about constraining the power of drugmakers, four are focused on reining in the food and agriculture industries and the remaining five represent a middle ground between the two competing interests, according to the analysis. 'We forecast continued tension between these two objectives,' said Jeremy Furchtgott, a director at Baron. 'Now, both objectives could be pursued simultaneously, theoretically, but realistically, there's just only so much attention any organization needs to prioritize.' The firm identified the top 15 influencers by collecting nearly 2,900 citations across social media platform X, LinkedIn, podcasts and other sources from people closely connected to Kennedy between Sept. 1, 2024, and Jan. 31, 2025. The top five who have Kennedy's ear are former Fox News host Tucker Carlson; conservative activist Charlie Kirk; TrueMed co-founder Calley Means — now a special government employee at HHS — and the X accounts named 'End Tribalism in Politics' and 'Chief Nerd,' which aggregates news and clips podcasts. Also on the list are actor Russell Brand, podcast host Joe Rogan and the activist known as 'The Food Babe,' Vani Hari. Why it matters: The new findings come on the heels of the MAHA Commission's much-anticipated report on the child chronic disease crisis, which was expected to shed light on the policy solutions and industries Kennedy might target as he implements the MAHA agenda. But the report largely shied away from the strident language Kennedy has used in the past in demonizing the food, farming and pharmaceutical industries and leaves for another day proposals for improving kids' health. The analysis also comes just a few weeks after President Donald Trump's new pick for surgeon general — wellness influencer Casey Means, the sister of Calley Means — made public a rift in the MAHA world. Kennedy's former presidential running mate, philanthropist Nicole Shanahan, said Kennedy had promised her he wouldn't bring the siblings to HHS. And the nomination ignited a feud between Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer close to Trump who criticized Casey Means for not having an active medical license, and Calley Means, putting on display the competing interests within Kennedy's MAHA movement. Key context: The Baron's analysis found the influencers in Kennedy's orbit represent a wide range of vaccine stances. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, has delivered conflicting messaging about the safety and efficacy of vaccines during his time as secretary. Within the top 15 influencers, there's a divide between narrow criticism of mandated Covid vaccines and broad skepticism of vaccines, but none have expressed the same level of opposition to vaccines as the Children's Health Defense, the anti-vaccine advocacy group Kennedy previously chaired. 'There's a group of organizations and people who were really concerned about vaccines, and they were early supporters, early allies, of RFK Jr., and we view that group as actually not having as much influence in the administration as they hoped for,' said Furchtgott. WELCOME TO FRIDAY PULSE. Which pieces of the MAHA Commission's report caught your eye? Let us know, and send your tips, scoops and feedback to khooper@ and ccirruzzo@ and follow along @Kelhoops and @ChelseaCirruzzo. At the Agencies RFK JR. PUNTS ON AUTISM PROMISE — HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. walked back his pledge to find the root cause of autism by September and punted his deadline by six months. In an interview aired Thursday night with CNN's Kaitlan Collins, Kennedy said HHS will have 'some studies' done by September, which will mainly be replications of studies that have already been done, 'because the only way you can get good science is through replication.' 'We'll have some of the information,' he said. 'To get the most solid information, it will probably take us another six months.' Background: Kennedy pledged in April, during a White House Cabinet meeting, to launch a 'massive testing and research effort' to find the root cause of autism by September. He said the effort would involve 'hundreds of scientists from around the world' to study rising autism rates in the U.S. A longtime vaccine critic, Kennedy has previously pushed the debunked theory that vaccines are tied to autism. What's next: Kennedy said HHS is deploying 15 groups of scientists to research autism's root cause and that the grants for those teams would be sent out to bid within three weeks. IN THE STATES TEXAS TAKES THE REINS ON PSYCHEDELICS — Texas is moving forward with plans to fund a grant program to study psychedelics for use as mental health treatments, POLITICO's Erin Schumaker reports. The state has approved $50 million in funding for clinical trials of ibogaine, a psychedelic drug derived from an African shrub. The move follows the Texas Legislature's passage of a bipartisan bill earlier this month to fund a grant program through Texas' Health and Human Services Commission aimed at gaining FDA approval for the psychedelic as a drug therapy. The $50 million will fund a partnership with an-as-yet-to-be-named drug developer, which will run the trials. Texas will retain a financial stake in any drug successfully developed, with trials likely taking place at a Texas university or hospital system. One of the Republican co-authors of the bill, state Sen. Tan Parker, has said he sees veterans with opioid dependence, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries as key beneficiaries of the research bill. 'The opioid crisis has left too many families shattered and too many Veterans without answers,' said his co-author, Republican state Rep. Cody Harris, in a statement. Why it matters: The first-in-the-nation initiative positions Texas as a hub for ibogaine research and creates a blueprint for other states that may want to replicate Texas' approach. While the FDA last year rejected drugmaker Lykos Therapeutics' plan to offer a different psychedelic drug, MDMA, alongside therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, advocates are cautiously optimistic about their prospects for advancing psychedelic therapy under the Trump administration. Abortion A CATCH-22 — A last-minute change to the GOP's megabill leaves many health insurers in an untenable position, setting up a clash with a dozen states over access to abortion coverage. The bill, which the House narrowly passed early Thursday morning, penalizes insurers that cover abortions even as a dozen states require them to do so. The overall effect, if it survives potential legal challenges, would be to decrease access to the procedure nationwide, a longtime goal of many Republicans, even as President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he'd like to leave the issue to the states. 'One good bet if this provision passes is litigation by states that require insurers to provide abortion coverage,' said Larry Levitt, executive vice president of KFF. Insurance companies and their trade groups have slammed the Republican legislation, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will result in millions losing their health insurance. 'Coverage losses of this magnitude would be unprecedented for our country,' AHIP said in a press release. 'We all want a healthier America. Deep reductions in health care coverage would be a big step in the wrong direction away from that goal.' But the latest wrinkle, added Wednesday night, attempts to incentivize insurers to stop covering abortion. The megabill, which still needs to pass the Senate, offers to pay insurers federal money but only if they don't cover abortion. In Congress MAKARY'S CLASH WITH CONGRESS — FDA Commissioner Marty Makary didn't get a warm welcome from Senate appropriators when he headed to Capitol Hill on Thursday to testify on the agency's budget request, POLITICO's David Lim reports. Instead, Democrats and Republicans on the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the agency pressed Makary on the impact of the Trump administration's staff cuts — including full committee Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine). Democrats lamented that the committee has still not received the Trump administration's full budget request. 'Recent staffing changes at the FDA appear to have affected the balance between innovation and regulatory review from what I'm hearing,' Collins said. 'I'm particularly concerned about the downstream impact of delays on patients suffering from debilitating rare diseases.' Makary pushed back against Collins and Democrats who said the Trump administration cuts would endanger the FDA's operations. 'The trains are running on time at the FDA. There have been no staffing changes that have changed any approval schedules,' Makary said. He added that the agency was on track to meet all the prescription drug user fee targets Congress has set for it. Budget ask: Democrats also slammed Makary for coming without a full budget request. 'We're sitting here today talking about a budget that this committee has not received,' subcommittee ranking member Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said, noting that the FDA wasn't mentioned in an abbreviated budget summary the Trump administration has released. Makary told lawmakers the Trump administration is proposing a $6.8 billion FDA budget for fiscal 2026, composed of $3.2 billion in taxpayer funds and $3.6 billion in user fee program revenues paid by drug and device makers, which would amount to a cut in FDA funding from fiscal 2025 levels. WHAT WE'RE READING The Associated Press' Carla K. Johnson reports on a new study that found weight-loss drugs might lower cancer risk in people with diabetes. POLITICO's Doug Palmer reports on the Trump administration warning drug companies they could face legal action if they don't accurately report the value of the prescription drugs they import or export.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Health
- New York Times
The Influential Adviser Helping Shape Kennedy's Policies
Calley Means says he knows firsthand that America's food and pharmaceutical industries are corrupt. As a former lobbyist, he argues, he once helped corrupt them. Mr. Means, 39, has emerged as a key figure in the Make America Healthy Again movement. He is a top adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and coordinated a presidential commission report that will be published Thursday on the causes of chronic disease among children. That report is expected to touch on some of the movement's top priorities, including environmental toxins, ultraprocessed foods and corporate influences over our health. Corporate influence has long been a talking point for Mr. Means, who has rapidly risen from an obscure health care entrepreneur to an influential figure shaping the White House's health priorities. (It was Mr. Means who suggested to Mr. Kennedy that he consider joining forces with President Trump last summer.) He is a fixture on Fox News and on popular podcasts, where he often discusses rising rates of issues such as infertility, depression, diabetes and obesity. He is the co-founder of Truemed, a startup that helps people funnel their flexible savings account dollars toward products like weights, saunas and supplements. Mr. Means has said making it easier for people to purchase these types of products could help prevent disease. Mr. Means, who does not have any formal medical training, has used his experience consulting for companies like Coca-Cola and the pharmaceutical industry to call out what he sees as insidious tactics that harm American children. For example, he has said that he worked to ensure sugar taxes failed, on behalf of soda companies. He argues that the health care industry profits from sick children and frequently describes the American public as being on a pharmaceutical 'treadmill,' arguing that the health care system pushes the public toward prescription medications rather than prioritizing diet and exercise. While many scientists and doctors agree with the movement's focus on the health of American children, some have bristled at what they see as an overly simplified picture of complex causes of chronic disease. At times, Mr. Means has also flouted conventional medical guidance, posting on Instagram that children should drink 'more raw milk and less juice' (the Food and Drug Administration has warned against raw milk) and writing on X that Covid vaccine mandates are a 'war crime, particularly for kids.' He has also called water fluoridation 'an attack on lower income kids,' citing research linking high levels of fluoride with lower childhood IQ. The science around the potential cognitive effects of fluoride at levels found in American drinking water is still unsettled. Mr. Means declined to comment for this article. Mr. Trump recently said he would name Mr. Means's sister, Dr. Casey Means, as his nominee for surgeon general. Dr. Means also co-founded Levels, a wearable glucose monitor company. The siblings co-wrote the book 'Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health,' which blames ultraprocessed foods, pesticides, sedentary lifestyles and other issues for a range of chronic diseases. The book also focuses on their mother, who died just 13 days after she was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer in 2021. The pair write that their mother's doctors suggested treatments that would have kept her away from her family in her final days, given pandemic precautions. 'Good Energy' became a best seller. The Means siblings took ideas once closely aligned with the left — such as reducing environmental toxins — and framed them in a way that resonated with conservatives who were already skeptical of the health care system. The siblings' appearance on Tucker Carlson's podcast last August became Apple's most-shared episode of 2024. Soon after, the siblings appeared on the 'The Joe Rogan Experience' podcast to talk about their book, the food industry and corporate corruption. Lately, Mr. Means has found a new platform: a government news conference. Onstage at a recent F.D.A. event announcing a federal push to phase out common food dyes, Mr. Means reflected on the MAHA movement's progress: 'These are things that a year or two years ago would have been absolutely out of the question.'
CNN
18-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
Cracks emerge in MAHA-MAGA alliance as RFK Jr. builds out his team of health ‘renegades'
CNN — The opulent ballroom of the Willard InterContinental Hotel is a regular stop on the high-dollar circuit of industry conferences that populate downtown Washington. But on a recent morning, mingling among the marble columns was an eclectic group of outsiders new in town. Food influencers, organic farmers and anti-vaccine advocates were among those gathered for the official launch of the MAHA Institute, the latest incarnation of the Make America Healthy Again movement that has become a key facet of Washington in the second Trump administration. Speakers took the stage to discuss medical freedom, school lunches, vaccine exemptions and above all, chronic illness. Farmers chatted about the importance of local produce but also the dangers of chemtrails in the sky. College students pitched a health startup built around the importance of 'touching grass.' Speaking from the stage, Calley Means, a longtime ally of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s who is now advising the White House, noted the oddity of pairing the people and ideas behind MAHA with those in Donald Trump's MAGA movement. 'There's a lot of organizations, a lot of people in this room who four to eight years ago, would have thought it was crazy to vote for President Trump,' Means said. 'And I think many of those same people in 2024 felt like their vote for President Trump was the most important vote of their life.' With Trump came Kennedy, who nearly three months into the job as HHS secretary has finally built out his leadership team filled with Covid-19 contrarians and self-styled 'renegades.' Together, with the added influence of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, they've begun a massive overhaul of the nearly $3 trillion agency — implementing deep cuts in medical research and sweeping layoffs that have led to the departure of some of the most highly trained specialists working in the federal government. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. grilled on his health policies by lawmakers 03:19 But agency shake-ups and new appointees have also begun to splinter the alliance between traditional Trump world allies and Kennedy's MAHA acolytes. Though it's early days, there is friction between the MAHA and MAGA camps, according to more than half a dozen current and former officials and people familiar with the conversations who declined to be named because they weren't authorized to speak on behalf of the health agency, or who feared retribution. The White House bristled over the way Kennedy's team handled the measles outbreak in Texas and elsewhere this year. Meanwhile, Kennedy's powerful principal deputy chief of staff, Stefanie Spear, has cracked down on the way agency officials communicate publicly, insisting that she personally review statements and reports. As for Kennedy's own leadership style, his oscillation between appeasing vaccine critics and placating public health officials has left people on both sides frustrated, multiple people familiar with the dynamics between the White House and HHS told CNN. Cracks have also opened up within the MAHA movement itself. Tension spilled into public view this month as high-profile MAHA supporters railed against Trump's new pick for surgeon general, Calley Means' sister, Dr. Casey Means. The holistic doctor has railed against the health care system's handling of chronic illnesses. But she has not discussed vaccine safety, and specifically Covid-19 vaccines, enough for some MAHA supporters. Looming large is what many MAHA supporters — and Kennedy himself — have publicly described as years of dismissal and ostracization by the mainstream medical and scientific community. Now that they are in charge, their suspicion of the establishment has not abated. 'The number of actual, true MAHA supporters at the top of these agencies is maybe 75 people across an agency that has 60,000 employees,' Mark Gorton, MAHA Institute co-president and a tech entrepreneur, told the Willard ballroom. 'Their job is unbelievably daunting because these bureaucracies are highly resistant to change.' But change is happening, buoyed by Kennedy's close circle of agency leaders and MAHA appointees. According to one former official familiar with conversations inside HHS, despite being outnumbered, there is no question that it's the MAHA advocates who are now fully in charge of the government's health agencies. 'Anyone in power, who has any kind of control, is a MAHA person,' the former official said. The MAHA movement is a key pillar of Trump's MAGA vision, White House spokesperson Kush Desai told CNN in a statement. 'Secretary Kennedy is both trusted and empowered by President Trump to deliver on his directive to get to the bottom of America's chronic disease epidemic, and this priority is shared not just by the White House and HHS, but the entire Trump administration.' HHS did not respond to a request for comment. RFK Jr.'s band of 'renegades' To hear Kennedy describe it, there has never been unity like this among the country's top health officials. 'We're friends. We go to lunch together; we stay at each other's homes; we vacation together,' Kennedy told Fox News this month, flanked by the heads of three of the biggest health agencies: Dr. Marty Makary, Food and Drug Administration commissioner; Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, National Institutes of Health director; and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator. 'We're aligned in our vision. Friendship is based upon shared values, and that's the strongest bond that holds people together,' the secretary said. 'You got, sitting here, four people who are all canceled during Covid. The entire leadership of this agency is renegades, juggernauts against convention, and who are trying to look for truth, no matter what the cost.' As he said, each of Kennedy's juggernauts became prominent critics of the government's Covid-19 response during shutdowns and vaccination efforts. It's a leadership group 'made for TV,' one former Trump health official told CNN. Oz, known better by his TV moniker Dr. Oz, was already a public figure and adviser to Trump when the pandemic struck. He soon campaigned for reopening schools and touted hydroxychloroquine, without evidence, as an effective treatment for Covid-19 infection. Bhattacharya was an early advocate of ending broad shutdowns, co-authoring an October 2020 paper that argued most young, healthy people could safely mingle and achieve herd immunity against the virus. And while surgeon and author Makary supported certain public health measures during the pandemic, including early shutdowns and masking, his public opposition to vaccine mandates and skepticism of booster shots increasingly brought him into the circle of Covid-19 critics. Each has been tasked with reorganizing their respective agencies and reorienting them toward a MAHA vision while satisfying cuts directed by DOGE, a sometimes discombobulated combination that has resulted in eliminating programs, research and staff. Makary launched FDA initiatives to remove certain food dyes and reassess vaccine reviews. Bhattacharya is charged with leading Kennedy's massive autism research effort but also reworking the $48 billion NIH into merged groups with less funding. Oz has taken up the campaign for more artificial intelligence in health care outreach and defended potential Medicaid access requirements. Friction over surgeon general pick Yet outside the jovial unity of the country's top health officials, tensions are brewing about the assembly's commitment to MAHA goals. The debate broke open this month when Trump pulled Dr. Janette Nesheiwat for surgeon general, and tapped Casey Means to fill the role. 'The new Surgeon General has never called for the Covid shots to be pulled off the market. That's why she was picked,' Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, founder of Americans for Health Freedom, wrote on X. 'Kennedy is powerless.' Nicole Shanahan, Kennedy's former running mate in his 2024 independent presidential bid, also questioned the choice, suggesting on X that the HHS secretary may be 'reporting to someone regularly who is controlling his decisions (and it isn't President Trump).' More recently, Shanahan took more precise aim at Kennedy's MAHA moves thus far, targeting food dyes but not — in her mind — putting sufficient pressure on issues including Covid-19 vaccines. 'Sure, we can make Fruit Loops great again, but let's not overlook the bigger issues—glyphosate and mRNA,' she wrote on X. The blowback has led Kennedy himself to step in and defend Means, a holistic medicine doctor who rose to prominence after she and her brother linked up with the MAHA movement and Kennedy's presidential campaign. 'Appointing Casey Means as US Surgeon General is like appointing someone who dropped out of West Point as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,' Steve Kirsch, an anti-Covid vaccine advocate and tech entrepreneur, wrote on X the afternoon of May 10. Five hours later, Kirsch posted his change of heart: 'I've talked to RFK and now support her despite my initial reservations.' Divisions inside HHS Outside of layoffs and reassignments at HHS, droves of federal employees have left the agency, several citing frustrations with the new leadership and Kennedy's chief of staff, Spear, a former environmental journalist who joined Kennedy's presidential campaign as press secretary. Spear told staff in meetings that all external communications, including responses to press but also routine reports such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly mortality updates or articles submitted by the NIH to research journals, would need to be reviewed by her, according to four people familiar with the meetings. Spear also controls the communications and information that Kennedy receives, according to those people. 'She's probably one of the biggest challenges of him getting feedback of any kind, information from the team,' said a former official who recently left the agency. 'Everything is filtered through her.' The slowdown on communications left White House officials frustrated with HHS' early response to the ongoing measles outbreak, that person and others familiar with the conversations said. White House officials would call HHS staff asking about the measles response, only to be told that Spear was handling it, the former officials said. There are now more than 1,000 measles cases across 30 states, according to CDC figures. Kennedy told congressional committees last week that 'we've handled this measles outbreak better than any other nation.' Frustrations with Kennedy's assembled leadership and the health agency overhaul have only exacerbated the flood of experts leaving HHS. For instance, so many people have left the agency's legal office that there is anxiety about whether HHS has the staff to man the looming battles with Harvard University over frozen research grants, the former official and another person familiar said. It is 'an utter disaster,' said the person familiar.
