Tag: rfk jr

NY Times Slammed For Predictable RFK Health Hit-Pieces

The New York Times came under fire on Monday for running a hit piece against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s pro-exercise campaign.

The leftist newspaper, as legacy media often does, leaned on so-called experts cautioning “against jumping into a difficult routine suggested by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth.”

Its headline—100 Push-Ups and 50 Pull-Ups in Under 10 Minutes. What Could Go Wrong?—was predictably snarky.

The piece targeted the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” a social media campaign aimed at raising awareness about fitness and weight loss.

However, according to The Times and their quoted experts, the exercise “may not be for everyone.”

“For the average person, I would definitely recommend building volume in these movements over three to four weeks before giving it a go,” said Utah athlete Dallin Pepper.

The leftist rag then cited Toronto-based personal trainer Chris Smits to say that the regimen proposed by Hegseth and Kennedy is not feasible for most Americans.

Citing experts is a common tactic in legacy media attacks on conservatives.

Self-described journalists pick a topic, guide the experts toward the conclusions they desire and then publish the story.

This cycle allows them to wash their hands by claiming they are simply reporting.

On X, critics piled on The Times, describing the hit piece as predictable as it was laughable.

“The New York Times really hates working out,” wrote Republican communicator Nathan Brand.

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What ACIP Wasn’t Shown

In June 2025, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) held its first meeting under the new leadership appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The public expectation was clear: that this newly appointed committee would restore rigor, independence, and critical examination of evidence before recommending routine use of new pharmaceutical products.

One of the most significant items on the agenda was whether to recommend Merck’s new RSV monoclonal antibody, Clesrovimab, for routine use in healthy newborns. Though marketed as a new product, it is nearly identical in structure and function to Sanofi–AstraZeneca’s nirsevimab, approved in 2023.

The committee ultimately voted 5 to 2 in favor of the recommendation. That vote followed a CDC presentation, which framed the safety data as reassuring, leading most members to conclude there were no outstanding safety concerns. 

But was that reassurance justified? And on what exactly was it based?

The Seizure Signal, and How It Was Presented

During its June 2025 meeting, ACIP members were shown a safety slide from the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD), focusing on seizures after administration of nirsevimab. The data were split into two age groups: infants aged 0-37 days and those aged 38 days to under 8 months. Each group showed elevated risk ratios for seizures (3.50 and 4.38, respectively), but both were labeled “not significant.” No pooled analysis was displayed.

However, as Dr. Maryanne Demasi later reported, combining the two groups into a single cohort yields a very different picture: a nearly four-fold increase in seizure risk (RR 3.93, 95% CI 1.21–12.79, p=0.02), a result that is statistically significant. That consolidated signal was never presented to the committee.

The decision to stratify at 38 days – precisely the point in US schedules when routine infant vaccinations begin – had no clear biological justification, and by dispersing the signal across two smaller groups, it effectively erased the statistical significance.

A second design choice compounded the problem. The CDC’s analysis applied a self-controlled risk interval with only the first 7 days designated as “risk” and days 8-21 treated as the “control” period. Any seizure occurring on day 8 or later was thus counted against the background rate, even though such timing could plausibly reflect a product-related effect. Standard pharmacovigilance practice calls for testing multiple windows, not a single narrow cutoff.

These analytical decisions mattered. The vote to recommend clesrovimab passed 5-2. Had members been shown the pooled seizure risk alongside the consistent trial-level imbalances in nervous system events, shifting just two votes would have changed the outcome.

Finally, as Demasi emphasized, the concern is not confined to one brand. Given the structural similarity between nirsevimab and clesrovimab, the seizure risk is likely a class effect. This means the omission of the pooled analysis did not just obscure a statistical detail. It withheld information with direct implications for every RSV monoclonal antibody now in use.

These findings emerged only through independent reanalysis. Without Dr. Demasi’s work, they may have remained unknown – not only to the public, but even to ACIP members casting their votes.

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RFK Jr. Takes A Page From The Prohibitionist Playbook By Endorsing Criminalization Of Kratom Compound 7-OH

At a recent press conference, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recommendation to classify 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH) as a federally controlled substance. Despite political promises to forge a different path, the same tired Drug War tactics were on full display.

What Is 7-Hydroxymitragynine?

7-OH is one of many naturally occurring alkaloids found in the leaves of kratom trees. These leaves have been used for centuries as an herbal remedy. They contain a complex blend of alkaloids that interact with opioid, serotonin and alpha-adrenergic receptors. Around the world, people use kratom to help manage discomfort, enhance focus or relax.

In raw, dried kratom leaf, 7-OH exists only in trace amounts (typically less than 0.1 mg per gram of leaf). It’s formed when a more abundant alkaloid, mitragynine, degrades in the leaves.

But in recent years, manufacturers have begun converting large amounts of mitragynine into 7-OH to create extremely potent products. Some capsules and tablets contain 15–50 mg of 7-OH, hundreds of times more than what you’d find in a standard 2–5 gram serving of kratom leaves. 7-OH products produce stronger pain-killing effects than leaf kratom or kratom extract.

Yet potency, on its own, isn’t a problem. The problem is how these products are being manufactured, marketed and sold—with little to no safety testing, evidence for medical claims or manufacturing oversight.

7-OH manufacturing practices are often substandard, resulting in tablets that contain a range of unknown byproducts and impurities with substantial differences between batches. Oftentimes, manufacturers label them with kratom leaf imagery and terminology (such as “advanced kratom alkaloids,” “superior kratom alkaloids,” “premium kratom alkaloids” or “organic kratom extract full-spectrum 7-hydroxymitragynine”) with the clear intention to mislead consumers into thinking isolated 7-OH is similar to kratom.

Few come with clear dosage instructions, warnings about potential interactions or disclosures about dependency risks. And most are sold at gas stations and smoke shops, where employees typically have no education on the products or their potential risks.

What the Media and Government Get Wrong About 7OH

With growing popularity has come growing scrutiny. But government agencies and major media outlets aren’t focusing on the issues laid out above. Instead, the FDA, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and HHS are leaning on a familiar narrative predicated on fear: opioid = bad, synthetic = dangerous and availability = addiction.

None of these equations hold up under scrutiny. First, opioids have saved far more lives than they’ve taken—through pain management, trauma care and palliative medicine. The vast majority of opioid-related deaths involve combinations with other sedatives, not opioids alone.

Second, the natural vs. synthetic distinction tells us nothing meaningful about a drug’s safety. Consider nicotine (natural, widely available, highly addictive) versus naloxone (synthetic, life-saving, non-addictive).

And finally, while availability may shape patterns of use, it’s not what drives addiction. We don’t attribute alcoholism to the mere existence of alcohol—especially when younger generations are drinking less despite liquor stores on every corner. Nor do we assume that junk food availability is the sole cause of disordered eating. Addiction is about context, not presence.

So far, there is little evidence to support the HHS’s narrative that 7-OH is ruining lives. Many people do report issues with dependency and withdrawal, as well as financial issues from spending a lot of money on 7-OH products. But reports of severe 7-OH-related harms (like overdoses) are sparse. There’s currently no public record of a single verified death caused solely by 7-OH. At the same time, many individuals report success using 7-OH to manage conditions that they haven’t found any other viable treatment for.

Despite the lack of research into 7-OH and evidence of significant harm (and the nascent state of medical research), the FDA has formally recommended that 7-OH be added to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. If approved, possession or production of 7-OH above a certain concentration would be a felony offense.

But placing a compound in Schedule I has historically done nothing to eliminate risk. In fact, we’ve often seen this categorization increase harm by pushing substances into the shadows, where they become harder to monitor, regulate, or use safely.

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Medical Journal Rejects RFK Jr.’s Call to Retract Paper

A medical journal is declining a call from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to retract a study that authors said showed no association between aluminum, which is used as an adjuvant in many vaccines, and chronic diseases.

The journal Annals of Internal Medicine released the study on July 15.

“Annals will not be retracting the study,” a spokeswoman for the American College of Physicians, which publishes the journal, told The Epoch Times in an email on Aug. 11.

Danish researchers, including Anders Hviid, said they studied records from children born in Denmark between 1997 and 2018 and looked for links between exposure to aluminum and 50 disorders, including autism spectrum disorder.

“This nationwide cohort study did not find evidence supporting an increased risk for autoimmune, atopic or allergic, or neurodevelopmental disorders associated with early childhood exposure to aluminum-adsorbed vaccines,” they stated.

Kennedy said in an op-ed that there were major problems with the paper, such as the exclusion of all children who died before the age of 2 and children who were diagnosed with early respiratory conditions.

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RFK Cracks Down on mRNA Vaccines

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been actively working to protect the health of the nation by reviewing what constitutes a “safe and effective” vaccine. He has banned a mercury preservative that held no health benefits. Now, Kennedy has ordered the discontinuation of 22 mRNA vaccines that post more risks than benefits.

These 22 contracts were worth $500 million—plain and simple, that is why they have not been banned or reviewed. HHS “supports safe and effective vaccines for every American who wants them,” Kennedy reiterated, as his opponents want the public to believe he is anti-vax when he is working to invest in better solutions that are actually beneficial to the people rather than big pharma.

“Most of these shots are for flu or COVID, but as the pandemic showed us, mRNA vaccines don’t perform well against viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract,” Kennedy explained, adding that these mRNA vaccinations “only codes for a small part of the viral proteins.”

“This dynamic drives a phenomenon called ‘antigenic shift,’ meaning that the vaccine paradoxically encourages new mutations and can actually prolong pandemics as the virus constantly mutates to escape the protective effects of the vaccine,” he explained.

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RFK Jr. slams ‘corruption’ of vaccine injury compensation program, says he’s working to ‘fix’ it

U.S. Secretary for Health & Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that he wants to “fix” the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) to better serve those who suffer adverse events but has yet to elaborate on how.

On July 28, Kennedy posted to X about the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which grants vaccine manufacturers general immunity from liability for injuries from their products and instead establishes the VICP through which affected individuals can seek financial compensation under certain circumstances.

“To date, the Vaccine Court has paid out $5.4 billion to 12,000 petitioners. But the VICP no longer functions to achieve its Congressional intent. Instead, the VICP has devolved into a morass of inefficiency, favoritism, and outright corruption as government lawyers and the Special Masters who serve as Vaccine Court judges prioritize the solvency of the HHS Trust Fund, over their duty to compensate victims,” he said.

“The structure itself hobbles claimants. The defendant is HHS, not the vaccine makers; and claimants are therefore facing the monumental power and bottomless pockets of the U.S. government represented by the Department of Justice. Furthermore, most of the Special Masters come from government, legal, or political posts, and typically display an extreme bias that favors the government side. There is no discovery, and the rules of evidence do not apply,” Kennedy added.

“Instead of ‘quickly and fairly’ awarding compensation, Special Masters dismiss over half of the cases. Most of those that proceed typically take 5+ years to resolve, with many languishing for more than 10 years as parents struggle to care for children suffering with often extreme disabilities,” he said.

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RFK Jr. pulls $500 million in funding for vaccine development

The Department of Health and Human Services will cancel contracts and pull funding for some vaccines that are being developed to fight respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and the flu.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary and a longtime vaccine critic, announced in a statement Tuesday that $500 million worth of vaccine development projects, all using mRNA technology, will be halted.

The projects — 22 of them — are being led by some of the nation’s leading pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and Moderna to prevent flu, COVID-19 and H5N1 infections.

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RFK Jr. Announces Ban Mercury-Based Thimerosal from All Flu Vaccines Which Can Cause “Mild to Severe Mental Retardation” in Unborn Children 

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced what may be one of the most important health policy decisions in decades: a full federal ban on the use of mercury-based preservative thimerosal in vaccines.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. issued a sweeping executive order on July 23, 2025, mandating vaccine manufacturers to eliminate the mercury‑based preservative thimerosal from all influenza vaccine formulations sold in the United States.

Kennedy justified the move by citing long-held claims that prenatal exposure to even tiny doses of ethyl­mercury in multi‑dose vials can lead to “mild to severe mental retardation” in unborn children.

According to The Conversation:

RFK Jr. has long linked thimerosal to autism – a connection that extensive scientific research has thoroughly debunked.

Thimerosal is an organic chemical containing mercury, used as a preservative in vaccines since the 1930s. Its effect comes from the mercury that disrupts the function of enzymes in microbes, such as bacteria and fungi. This prevents contamination of vaccines while they are stored in vials. Mercury, however, is also well-known as a potent toxin acting on cells the brain.

Much of mercury’s toxicity to brain cells stems from the same attributes that make thimerosal such a useful preservative. It disrupts the basic biological function of cells by changing the structure of proteins and enzymes.

In the brain, this can lead neurons to become excessively active, can impair the way they use energy, it can increase inflammation and lead to the death of neurons. While mercury poisoning can damage brain function in adults, babies are even more vulnerable.

Kennedy revealed that flu shots laced with this toxic compound were still being administered to pregnant women and children up until last week.

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RFK Jr. Blasts ‘Corrupt and Broken’ Vaccine Court System — Vows to Overhaul VICP and End HHS Cover-Ups for Big Pharma

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took a blowtorch to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)—commonly known as the Vaccine Court— calling it a corrupt and broken system that has abandoned vaccine-injured children and now functions as a shield for Big Pharma’s profits and government malfeasance.

The U.S. government gave vaccine manufacturers blanket legal immunity—then created a kangaroo court, rigged against parents and children, to supposedly “compensate” the injured. But instead of justice, Kennedy says victims face stonewalling, legal abuse, and a government hellbent on defending its own wallet.

And the numbers back him up.

To date, the Vaccine Court has paid out $5.4 billion to just 12,000 petitioners. But Kennedy notes that thousands more have been dismissed, delayed, or bullied into silence while their children suffer life-altering disabilities.

Parents report cases dragging out for over a decade, while Special Masters—essentially government-appointed judges—slash attorney fees, deny access to crucial vaccine safety data, and retaliate against expert witnesses who dare testify for the injured.

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The Department of Justice Just Sided with RFK Jr. Group’s Claim That News Orgs Can’t Boycott Misinformation

The Children’s Health Defense (CHD), a nonprofit founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to end “childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposure,” submitted an antitrust complaint against The Washington Post, the BBC, the Associated Press, and Reuters in January 2023. On Friday, the Justice Department published a statement of interest in favor of the CHD, which implores the federal court hearing the case to recognize that harm to viewpoint competition is grounds for antitrust prosecution. 

In the case, Children’s Health Defense v. Washington Post, the CHD alleges that the defendants violated federal antitrust law through their establishment of the Trusted News Initiative (TNI) shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. The complaint claims that the TNI formed a “group boycott” to exclude publishers of “misinformation” partially or entirely from popular internet platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

The complaint cites a March 2022 statement by Jamie Angus, senior news controller at BBC, who said “the real rivalry now is…between all trusted news providers and a tidal wave of unchecked [reporting] that’s being piped out mainly through digital platforms,” as evidence of “the economic self-interest behind the TNI’s group boycott [and] the anti-competitive purpose and effect of that boycott.” CHD misconstrues the meaning of Angus’ words in an attempt to persuade the court that the TNI is a “horizontal agreement among competitor firms to cut off from the market upstart rivals threatening their business model.”

CHD alleges that TNI’s restrictions are unreasonable not only because they “collusively reduce output” and “lower product quality”—conventional indicators of illegal collusive behavior—but because “they suppress competition in the marketplace of ideas.” Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division is running with CHD’s argument.

Slater said that the “Antitrust Division will always defend the principle that the antitrust laws protect free markets, including the marketplace of ideas,” in a press release. In the department’s statement of interest, Slater references the majority opinion from U.S. v. Associated Press (1945) to argue that “right conclusions are more likely to be gathered out of a multitude of tongues, than through any kind of authoritative selection.”

Joseph Coniglio, director of antitrust and innovation policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, agrees with Slater that “collusive viewpoint restrictions can be antitrust violations.” However, he emphasizes that, “if the platforms allegedly taking down content are not defendants and don’t have vertical agreements with…TNI to do so, it’s hard to see how the latter could be illegal.” (CHD alleges that censorship “by Facebook, Google and Twitter, [caused] damages to date of over $1,000,000,” but does not name these platforms as defendants in its suit.)

Slater’s statement was submitted amid ongoing litigation between Media Matters and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the other federal antitrust enforcement agency. The FTC opened an investigation into Media Matters in May for facilitating an alleged advertising boycott against the social media platform X. Advertising holding companies Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group of Companies agreed not to enter into “any agreement or practice that would steer advertising dollars away from publishers based on their political or ideological viewpoints” as a condition of their merger settlement with the FTC in June. Media Matters has challenged the FTC’s probe into its operations on First Amendment grounds.

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