There are many concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s potential influence on the American medical industry, especially by those who work directly with patients.
Kennedy, a vocal vaccine skeptic, said President Trump would give him a prominent role in the new administration. However, his exact title and duties have not been specified.
Dr. Owais Durrani, a Houston emergency physician, told Scripps News that he was concerned about President Kennedy's qualifications to set health care policy.
“When it comes to medical institutions and other scientific institutions in our country, it's based on data, science and research. And when you question those institutions without actually having anything backed up by data or science… If you start, you're honestly going to incur losses'' in life. ”
In an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday, President Kennedy said he was open to making changes to the Food and Drug Administration.
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“In some categories, entire departments have to be eliminated, like the FDA's nutrition division,” he said.
President-elect Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he intended to give Kennedy a “health scare.”
Durrani warned that making major changes, such as dismantling parts of the FDA, could have far-reaching implications.
“When you hear things like 'runaways' on healthcare and the dismantling of the FDA, these are core pillars of how society functions and how we are healthy,” Durrani said. .
Durrani added that he was concerned about misinformation being amplified by figures like President Kennedy, who falsely linked vaccines to autism.
“Some people are going to fall for these things, especially when this gentleman is holding the megaphone at the highest levels of government. So, certainly, that's a big concern to me,” he said.
