stated he obtained quite a few pledges from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration to guard drugs and science — significantly relating to vaccines — that clinched his assist for the HHS secretary nominee.
Cassidy stated Kennedy and the administration promised an “unprecedentedly shut collaborative working relationship” that features the 2 of them assembly or talking “a number of instances a month.” In addition they stated that Kennedy might seem earlier than the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee — which Cassidy at the moment chairs — quarterly if requested.
A lot of the pledges revolved round vaccines, together with that Kennedy will work inside present approval and security monitoring techniques, and never set up parallel techniques. He’ll additionally preserve suggestions from CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) with out modifications, and statements that vaccines do not trigger autism will not be faraway from the CDC web site.
Kennedy may also not use “subversive methods … like sue-and-settle to vary insurance policies enacted by Congress with out first going by means of Congress,” Cassidy stated.
He additionally famous that Kennedy requested for his enter on hiring selections at HHS past Senate-confirmed positions.
Each Kennedy and the administration “dedicated to a powerful function of Congress,” Cassidy stated, partially by means of the conferences with the HELP Committee. The committee chair may also be capable of select a consultant on any board or fee fashioned to overview vaccine security.
As well as, HHS will present a 30-day discover to the committee if it seeks to make modifications to any federal vaccine security monitoring applications, and the committee will be capable of name a listening to on any potential modifications to those applications, Cassidy stated.
“If Mr. Kennedy is confirmed, I’ll use my authority as chairman of the Senate committee with oversight of HHS to rebuff any try and take away the general public’s entry to life-saving vaccines with out iron-clad, causational scientific proof that may be accepted and defended earlier than the mainstream scientific group and earlier than Congress,” Cassidy stated. “I’ll watch rigorously for any effort to wrongfully sow public worry about vaccines between complicated references of coincidence and anecdote. However my assist is constructed on assurances that this is not going to should be a priority, and that he and I can work collectively to construct an agenda to make America wholesome once more.”
Throughout a press briefing on Tuesday, Georges Benjamin, MD, government director of the American Public Well being Affiliation, stated that he was skeptical that Cassidy and Congress would have a lot say in Kennedy’s selections.
“Is he going to select up the cellphone and name the senator each time he is about to make a controversial determination? I do not suppose so,” Benjamin instructed reporters. “Even when he does, whose opinion weighs extra?” he requested, referring to President Trump.
“If we thought Mr. Kennedy would have a pleasant kitchen cupboard of advisors to encompass him with good recommendation, that might be one factor. However he has not demonstrated that in any respect up to now,” Benjamin added. “Any guarantees that he made to the nice senator, he’ll break these guarantees. You possibly can take that one to the financial institution.”
Katelyn Jetelina, PhD, MPH, creator of a preferred public well being publication, stated throughout the briefing that she was involved that Kennedy would nonetheless have “many levers” as HHS secretary to proceed to sow doubt about vaccines.
“Certain, perhaps he will not pull down the vaccines and autism web page on CDC,” she stated, “however what he says and the way he says it’ll be an enormous indication to Individuals.”