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Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
Health experts say a little-known form of science denial explains RFK Jr.'s views on vaccines and disease
'He believes that when those two children in Texas died of measles, it wasn't because of measles—it was because they were malnourished. He said they were Advertisement Germ theory, formalized in the 19th century by Louis Pasteur, replaced the once-dominant 'miasma theory,' which held that disease stemmed from foul-smelling air or vapors from rotting organic matter. Pasteur's contemporary and rival, Antoine Béchamp, rejected germ theory in favor of 'terrain theory' — the idea that illness arises not from outside microbes but from internal imbalances in the body. Advertisement Though discredited by modern science, terrain theory still finds adherents among germ theory denialists, including Kennedy, who in his 2021 book 'The Real Anthony Fauci' repeatedly attributes the 20th century's steep decline in infectious disease deaths to improvements in nutrition and sanitation rather than to vaccines. Dr. Kristen Panthagani, a resident physician at Yale and public health communicator, said Kennedy does not deny the existence of microbes outright but reframes their role in illness. 'Instead of saying germs don't exist, they say germs exist but aren't necessarily harmful,' said Panthagani. 'They shift the blame to poor nutrition or other co-morbidities — saying that those are the real causes of disease.' In his book, Kennedy calls for a 'marriage' between germ theory and his version of miasma theory, defined as 'preventing disease by fortifying the immune system through nutrition and by reducing exposures to environmental toxins and stresses.' HHS did not respond to multiple requests for comment about Kennedy or the department's current views on miasma theory. Panthagani said Kennedy creates a false dichotomy between germ theory and the idea that good nutrition and fitness play an important role in keeping people healthy. 'He painted germ theory as this belief that germs are the only cause of bad outcomes in infectious disease ... when there already is a nuanced understanding of how infections work in the medical community,' she said. In his book, Kennedy repeatedly mischaracterizes mainstream medicine as downplaying both the importance of nutrition and physical fitness in whether or not one contracts or survives an infectious disease as well as the positive role that many microbes play in the human body — claims that Panthagani, who wrote her PhD thesis on the human microbiome, says are categorically false. Advertisement 'Yes, good nutrition and exercise are super important and will prevent a whole bunch of diseases,' said Panthagani. 'But they are not guaranteed to stop measles. We also need vaccination.' While most medical professionals reject Kennedy's framing, terrain theory still maintains a foothold in alternative health circles — though not all who espouse it agree with the MAHA movement. Sarah Southerton, a certified 'integrative health practitioner' (but not a medical doctor) and owner of the Minneapolis-based wellness business Healing Masters LLC, which sells coaching sessions and online courses, said, in her view, illness takes hold when the body is 'weakened' — by poor nutrition, environmental toxins, stress, and other internal imbalances — rather than by germs alone. 'Germ theory is just a little too simplistic,' she said, while acknowledging it still has value, in her view. 'It doesn't account for why some people get sick and others don't, even when they're exposed to the same thing.' 'For me, terrain theory includes your thoughts and feelings,' in tandem with biology, she said. 'If you're someone who's always resonating with criticism, judgment, self-pity, jealousy…you're not likely to have good health,' because it puts stress on the body, weakening both the immune system and physical resilience, in Southerton's view. Southerton said her support for scientific research, environmental regulation, vaccine access, and public health infrastructure makes her concerned that MAHA's broad push for deregulation could leave vulnerable Americans more exposed and susceptible to illness — the opposite of the' individualized, informed, and supportive approach to health freedom' she advocates. Advertisement To Offit, Kennedy's current mishandling of this year's measles outbreaks — which have infected more than 1,000 people in 33 states and resulted in the first U.S. pediatric measles death in more than 20 years — exemplifies the dangerous consequences of the HHS Secretary's germ theory denialism. He has downplayed the importance of measles vaccination, Offit said, and repeatedly promoted vitamin A supplements and vitamin A-rich cod liver oil as measures to prevent and treat measles — a message that can be dangerously misleading in the U.S. context. 'The World Health Organization only recommends vitamin A in countries where there's vitamin A deficiency—which is not this country,' said Offit. 'He promoted this to the point that children were 'There's only two ways to develop specific immunity: to be naturally infected or to be vaccinated,' Offit said. 'Healthy people, no matter how healthy they are, can be killed by these viruses and bacteria unless they have specific immunity beforehand.' Understanding Kennedy's germ theory denialism, Offit and Panthagani argue, helps illuminate many of his other beliefs. For example, Kennedy has long argued that vaccines pose greater risks than the diseases they are designed to prevent. After all, why expose oneself to a weakened virus — or trace amounts of heavy metals and other synthetic ingredients — if a properly maintained immune system should offer adequate protection on its own? In its most recent move, HHS Advertisement With this novel strain of germ theory denialism as the basic, false premise of his scientific worldview, Kennedy has poisoned the well of public health discourse—potentially for decades to come, experts said. 'It's bad, and it's only going to get worse. I think the question is: when do we wake up? When do we say, 'This is too much—why should children suffer like this?'' said Offit. Nathan Metcalf can be reached at
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Swims in Sewage-Tainted Creek with Grandchildren Despite National Park Service's Bacteria Warning
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. swam in a creek in Washington, D.C., that has been deemed unsafe due to its high levels of bacteria Kennedy, the Health and Human Services secretary, took his young grandchildren along for the swim and posted photos of them by the water with him The National Park Service has warned that Rock Creek could have dangerous pathogens harmful to pets and humans Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plunged into a creek deemed a "hazard" to human health as part of his Mother's Day celebrations on Sunday, May 11. The Department of Health and Human Services secretary, 71, posted photos to X of himself and his family at Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. In one of the images, Kennedy is fully submerged with his head underwater. In another, he holds one of his grandchildren as the child's feet dip into the creek. The National Park Service banned swimming and wading in the creek due to "high bacteria levels" in the water. "Mother's Day hike in Dumbarton Oaks Park with Amaryllis, Bobby, Kick, and Jackson, and a swim with my grandchildren, Bobcat and Cassius in Rock Creek," Kennedy captioned his post on Sunday. The NPS warns that possible infectious pathogens in Rock Creek — a tributary of the Potomac River — could pose a risk to human and pet health. The agency urges visitors, "Please protect yourself and your pooches by staying on trails and out of the creek." Many of D.C.'s waterways are not fit for recreational swimming due in part to contamination from the city's sewer system, which is more than 200 years old, according to The Hill. The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority recently found a 200-foot-long fracture in the ceiling of a sewer tunnel next to Rock Creek. Kennedy, who challenged the idea that germs cause disease in his 2021 book The Real Anthony Fauci, has a long history of dubious health claims. He recently incorrectly stated that the MMR vaccine includes "aborted fetus debris," and said bird flu should be allowed to spread on farms, suggesting the infected birds should be isolated and left to breed, not culled. In late March, Dr. Peter Marks, a top vaccine official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), resigned, and listed Kennedy's work at HHS as one of the factors that drove him out. 'It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,' he wrote at the time. The HHS secretary most recently came under fire for his remarks about people with autism, alleging that they are unable to live normal, full lives and are "suffering." His words sparked immediate backlash, including from Holly Robinson Peete, whose son was diagnosed with autism, and Big Brother contestant Kyland Young, who was diagnosed at age 30. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Kennedy's cousins even penned an open letter blasting his "slurs and statements" about people diagnosed with autism. "We have been reminded again and again that people with autism can and will continue to be wonderful children, brothers and sisters, and members of families," read the joint letter from Best Buddies Founder & CEO Anthony K. Shriver and his brother, Special Olympics International Chairman Timothy Shriver. HHS did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Doesn't Actually Believe Germs Are Real, Which Seems Like Terrible News For Everyone Going On A Cruise This Year
Gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships hit a 12-year high in 2024, and 2025 has been even worse, with cruise lines seeing an entire year's worth of outbreaks in only the first quarter of the year. So it was hard to understand why Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. decided it was the perfect time to get rid of the people at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who investigate outbreaks and ensure cruise ships are properly sanitized, especially with a new Norovirus strain running rampant. Now it all makes sense, though — RFK doesn't believe germs are real. That's a serious claim, and we have so much evidence that germs cause disease, you probably don't have a category in your brain for a real person in real life who actually believes germ theory is wrong, much less the person in charge of our nation's health. And yet, as Ars Technica recently pointed out, that claim is based on RFK's own words that he published in his book The Real Anthony Fauci. You just have to look at the Miasma vs. Germ Theory section of the chapter he titled "The White Man's Burden." Yikes. On so many levels. Read more: These Should Be The Next Mail Trucks When The Post Office Gets Privatized In that chapter, Kennedy wrote, "'Miasma theory' emphasizes preventing disease by fortifying the immune system through nutrition and by reducing exposures to environmental toxins and stresses," which, as Ars Technica also pointed out, also demonstrates a misunderstanding of the long-debunked miasma theory that disease is caused by "noxious mists and vapors." Apparently, according to Kennedy, germ theory wasn't based on actual evidence but instead got popular because it "[mimicked] the traditional explanation for disease—demon possession—giving it a leg up over miasma." By embracing germ theory, Kennedy argued doctors wrongly began to focus on "the pharmaceutical paradigm that emphasized targeting particular germs with specific drugs rather than fortifying the immune system through healthy living, clean water, and good nutrition." Kennedy has also bemoaned the "$1 trillion pharmaceutical industry pushing patented pills, powders, pricks, potions, and poisons, and the powerful professions of virology and vaccinology led by 'Little Napoleon' himself, Anthony Fauci, fortify the century-old predominance of germ theory." Independent journalist Talia Lavin also posted a screenshot (embedded above) from the chapter, where Kennedy claimed Louis Pasteur, aka the "father of microbiology," made a deathbed confession that he'd been wrong about germ theory. The source of that claim? A book titled Virus Mania that also claimed Ebola, bird flu and hepatitis don't actually exist, either. Again, the top health official in the U.S. wrote this stuff in his own book, and you can probably check it out at your local library if you're brave enough. If Kennedy doesn't actually believe that germs make you sick, then his decision to fire the health officials in charge of the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program and gut the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice finally makes sense. He isn't worried about Norovirus outbreaks because he doesn't believe the Norovirus is real. "I thought 'it now all makes sense'... I mean, it all adds up," Children's Hospital of Philadelphia pediatrician and infectious disease expert Paul Offit told Ars Technica after reading the chapter in question. "It's so unbelievable, because you can't imagine that someone who's the head of Health and Human Services doesn't believe that specific viruses or bacteria cause specific diseases, and that the prevention or treatment of them is lifesaving." Unfortunately for everyone involved, while you can and probably should avoid cruises for the foreseeable future, our Health Secretary's unscientific belief that germs don't actually cause disease will likely have far worse consequences than a bunch of cruise-goers losing it from both ends up and down the ship. What's been described as a near-religious-level belief that everyone who disagrees with him is in the pocket of Big Pharma--pushing the theory that germs make you sick so they can get rich--is a threat to modern medicine and health in this country, as well as across the world. Are clean air, regular exercise, and a healthy diet that includes a variety of vegetables important? Absolutely. But germs are still real, people still actually suffer and die from the diseases germs cause, and it's almost beyond comprehension that someone who doesn't believe in something as foundational as germ theory is our country's top health official. And yet, somehow, it's true. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK considering pulling recommendation for kids to get the Covid vaccine
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering pulling the national recommendation that children receive the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a new report. If Kennedy moves to end the recommendation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would remove the vaccine from the recommended childhood vaccine schedule. The action would mark Kennedy's most significant yet to change the country's vaccination practices. Kennedy is a staunch anti-vaccine activist who has previously spread false claims about vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration has determined Covid-19 vaccines to be safe for children, and ongoing monitoring shows this continues to be the case, according to the CDC. Eliminating the vaccine from the childhood vaccine schedule wouldn't mean kids can't get it, but it would influence Covid-19 vaccination procedures and use across the U.S. It would also mean that more children would likely become infected with the potentially deadly disease and present a contagion risk to other children and adults. Pediatricians use the CDC schedule to determine when to give children the vaccines, and insurance companies use it to determine which vaccines to cover. Two anonymous officials familiar with the discussions told Politico the policy is still under discussion and could change. Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon similarly told Politico that 'no final decision has been made.' Consideration of the change comes after Kennedy appeared on Fox News Tuesday night, when he once again spread the false claim that the Covid-19 vaccine causes an increased death rate among children. 'The recommendation for children was always dubious, and it was dubious because kids had almost no risk for Covid-19,' Kennedy told Fox News' Jesse Watters. 'Some kids, some certain kids that had very profound morbidities, may have a slight risk. Most kids don't.' He added: 'So why are we giving this to tens of millions of kids when the vaccine itself does have profound risk?' Kennedy has also vowed to investigate the entire childhood vaccine schedule in February. This came even after he promised a Senator he wouldn't touch the vaccine schedule during his confirmation process. 'Nothing is going to be off limits,' Kennedy said in his inaugural address to the Department of Health and Human Services. His organization, Children's Health Defense, has advocated against vaccinations and spread the baseless claim that vaccines cause autism. In his book, The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy also falsely claimed that Anthony Fauci colluded with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to exaggerate the extent of the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid killed more than 7 million people worldwide, including more than one million in the U.S. Spreading vaccine misinformation resulted in Meta deactivating Kennedy's Instagram account in 2021. He's now dictating vaccine protocol across the nation.
The Independent
24-04-2025
- Health
- The Independent
RFK considering pulling recommendation for kids to get the Covid vaccine
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is considering pulling the national recommendation that children receive the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a new report. If Kennedy moves to end the recommendation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) would remove the vaccine from the recommended childhood vaccine schedule. The action would mark Kennedy's most significant yet to change the country's vaccination practices. Kennedy is a staunch anti-vaccine activist who has previously spread false claims about vaccines. The Food and Drug Administration has determined Covid-19 vaccines to be safe for children, and ongoing monitoring shows this continues to be the case, according to the CDC. Eliminating the vaccine from the childhood vaccine schedule wouldn't mean kids can't get it, but it would influence Covid-19 vaccination procedures and use across the U.S. It would also mean that more children would likely become infected with the potentially deadly disease and present a contagion risk to other children and adults. Pediatricians use the CDC schedule to determine when to give children the vaccines, and insurance companies use it to determine which vaccines to cover. Two anonymous officials familiar with the discussions told Politico the policy is still under discussion and could change. Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew Nixon similarly told Politico that 'no final decision has been made.' Consideration of the change comes after Kennedy appeared on Fox News Tuesday night, when he once again spread the false claim that the Covid-19 vaccine causes an increased death rate among children. 'The recommendation for children was always dubious, and it was dubious because kids had almost no risk for Covid-19,' Kennedy told Fox News' Jesse Watters. 'Some kids, some certain kids that had very profound morbidities, may have a slight risk. Most kids don't.' He added: 'So why are we giving this to tens of millions of kids when the vaccine itself does have profound risk?' Kennedy has also vowed to investigate the entire childhood vaccine schedule in February. This came even after he promised a Senator he wouldn't touch the vaccine schedule during his confirmation process. 'Nothing is going to be off limits,' Kennedy said in his inaugural address to the Department of Health and Human Services. His organization, Children's Health Defense, has advocated against vaccinations and spread the baseless claim that vaccines cause autism. In his book, The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy also falsely claimed that Anthony Fauci colluded with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to exaggerate the extent of the Covid-19 pandemic. Spreading vaccine misinformation resulted in Meta deactivating Kennedy's Instagram account in 2021. He's now dictating vaccine protocol across the nation.
