Public health experts say that if Donald Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is confirmed, more experimental treatments will be prioritized and pharmaceuticals There are concerns that access to the site could be reversed.
Kennedy, who was named president-elect earlier this month, has repeatedly expressed distrust of pharmaceuticals and criticized the FDA’s “aggressive suppression of psychedelic substances.” On his podcast, he called the US “the sickest country in the world” and said the country’s health care system is focused on “pills and pills and powders” and “dozens of drugs rather than actually making people healthy and building their immune systems.” They accused him of wasting billions of dollars.
Mr. Kennedy is a surprising choice for many reasons. He is a lawyer with little government public health experience and has been a harsh critic of Trump during his independent presidential campaign.
But like other Trump cabinet picks, Kennedy has expressed a conspiratorial distrust of the agencies he has appointed to run. Matt Gaetz, who was nominated for attorney general before withdrawing from consideration Thursday, believes the Jan. 6 insurrection was a government charade aimed at covering up a stolen election. Meanwhile, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, parroted Russian propaganda about U.S. intelligence. .
President Kennedy has similarly promoted conspiracy theories about the health care system he oversees, including the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. Even the New York Post, which has praised Kennedy in the past, warned in an editorial board opinion that Kennedy’s confirmation would have dire public health consequences and canceled the interview in 2023. “Mr. Kennedy told us with complete certainty that all of America’s chronic health problems started in 2020.” A year in the 1980s. ”
Reshma Ramachandran, a physician and director of the Yale Collaboration for Regulatory Strength, Integrity, and Transparency, said Kennedy’s theories often have a mixture of truth and conspiracy. , described it as “unwieldy.” Like Kennedy, her team has expressed concerns about “corporate influence in federal agencies and its potential to unduly influence regulatory decision-making.” Similarly, while there is some scientific evidence behind President Kennedy’s concerns about the health effects of processed foods, his belief that a better diet would solve many physical and mental health problems was The claim has no scientific evidence.
Ramachandran said it was deeply worrying that President Kennedy seemed to be ignoring scientific evidence.
“It’s perfectly fine to have healthy skeptics (as Secretary of Health and Human Services),” she said. “But that skepticism requires at least some humility.”
During his campaign, Kennedy repeatedly demonized Adderall and SSRIs, and claimed that if elected, he would legalize marijuana and use the tax revenue to create “wellness farms” to “treat addicts, including psychiatric treatment.” did. Medications such as Adderall. People addicted to Adderall and SSRIs are worried that President Kennedy will criminalize the drugs.
Mr. Ramachandran said that as secretary of the Department of Health, Mr. Kennedy would have “considerable power” to overturn the health care system.
Traditionally, HHS is supposed to defer to agencies such as the FDA, but “in some cases, HHS has the authority to override an agency.” Mr. Ramachandran would face legal challenges if, for example, Mr. Kennedy tried to change the legal status of Adderall, but he is an expert in liability law and believes that in theory it is possible. I explained that there is.
Mr. Ramachandran is particularly concerned about reversing recent FDA decisions that Mr. Kennedy has criticized. In 2020, the FDA discontinued the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, citing safety concerns and a lack of evidence. This year, authorities rejected Lycos Therapeutics’ MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD. Ricos hid negative effects, such as suicide attempts, in clinical trial results. The trial had already raised ethical questions, including claims that a sexual relationship between a therapist and a trial participant amounted to assault. In particular, MDMA increases suggestibility.
Neshe Devenot, a bioethics researcher at Johns Hopkins University and the psychedelic harm reduction nonprofit Psymposia, organized the protests against Lykos’ treatment. According to their study, “Elements of this therapy, ostensibly intended to help disabled people communicate, are actually discredited techniques that give the ‘facilitator’ the power to speak on behalf of disabled people.” It turned out to be based on a pseudoscience very similar to facilitated communication.
President Kennedy denounced the FDA’s decision, insisting that Devenault’s opposition was motivated by hatred of veterans and suggesting it showed collusion with the pharmaceutical industry.
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However, Lykos actually has close ties to the existing pharmaceutical industry. Lykos’ chairman, Jeff George, is also a director of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, a company that manufactures a range of traditional medicines, including the generic drug Adderall.
Much of Kennedy’s rhetoric regarding psychedelics and the pharmaceutical industry is similar to that of Elon Musk, whom Trump also named to his Cabinet. Devenot believes Kennedy was heavily influenced by the psychedelic-centered Silicon Valley ethos of “move fast and break things.” Psychedelics have been argued by Musk and others in the tech industry to be superior to traditional mental health treatments.
Debenaud and Ramachandran believe psychedelic therapy has potential, but say more rigorous research is needed.
Ramachandran said that if President Kennedy chooses to expedite the approval of Lykos therapy and other psychedelic treatments, it could backfire because accelerated approvals would lead to further safety issues. Ta.
Devenot understands why it’s tempting to think that psychedelic drugs could be a “miracle solution” to all mental illnesses, if only someone like Kennedy or Musk could prevent FDA intervention. .
“This is a very reductive way of looking at mental health, but the reality is much more complex,” Devenau says.
