Maine physicians to opposed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nomination appeal to Senator Susan Collins and Senator Angus King

 Robert Kennedy’s nomination to head HHS puts the health of Americans at risk  Updated Thu Jan 09, 2025

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By Connie Adler of Farmington and Noah Nesin of Glenburn have been family doctors serving Maine since 1986.

As family physicians who have practiced here in Maine for decades, we are deeply concerned about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This appointment poses a significant threat to the health and well-being of Americans, particularly our children and we encourage both of our senators to oppose the approval of his appointment.
Throughout his career, Kennedy has consistently spread dangerous misinformation about vaccines, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of their safety and effectiveness at preventing serious illnesses. We have witnessed firsthand the life-saving impact of vaccines. They have eradicated diseases like smallpox, nearly eliminated others like polio and have prevented devastating diseases like meningitis and cervical cancer.
The recent measles outbreaks we've seen in the U.S. and abroad are a direct result of declining vaccination rates, fueled by the kind of misinformation Kennedy promotes. In Samoa, Kennedy’s personal visit and comments and his anti-vaccine nonprofit’s support for vaccine opponents significantly contributed to the measles outbreak in which 83 children died.

Kennedy's stance on vaccines is not merely a difference of opinion; it's a rejection of established science. He has falsely linked vaccines to autism, a claim that has been thoroughly debunked by numerous studies. This is but one example of his refusal to consider the evidence and instead appears to follow his personal hunches or unvalidated stories. This undermines the entire basis for evidence-based medicine and it is terrifying for someone who thinks like this to be put in the powerful position to direct research.

Moreover, Kennedy's views on other health issues are equally concerning. He has promoted unproven and potentially dangerous alternative treatments, questioned the safety of fluoride in drinking water, and advocated for the legalization of raw milk sales. As HHS secretary, Kennedy would oversee crucial agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Institutes of Health. He has no experience running an organization of the complexity of HHS, little medical knowledge, and no apparent track record of learning from others. These organizations are the core of research in this country for cancer, food safety, drug development and infectious diseases. 

Kennedy would put all of that at risk.

His skepticism of established medical science and the resulting degradation of public trust in our health institutions could undermine our ability to respond effectively to public health crises, from emerging infectious diseases to the ongoing opioid epidemic. Think of the success of former Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah during the COVID-19 pandemic in providing education, reassurance and scientific information in a manner that empowered people to make good decisions for themselves and their loved ones. With Kennedy at the helm at HHS that kind of trust and confidence would be undermined, conspiracy theories and misinformation could have a prominent platform and lives would be placed at unnecessary risk.
Maine is a national leader in vaccination rates for school children and Maine voters overwhelmingly endorsed mandatory school vaccinations in a 2020 referendum. 

Earlier in 2024 the Maine CDC announced that Maine achieved record high vaccination rates of over 95 percent for our schoolchildren. Yet Kennedy has criticized school vaccine mandates. This great public health success and others are in jeopardy should Kennedy be confirmed. We urge Senators Collins and King to oppose this nomination and to vote no. Maine’s children and all of the people of Maine deserve no less.

A national health issue reported in St. Louis: an Echo

Maternal and Child Health data are among the earliest and most reliable indicators about the health of any given population of people.  Consequently, this important editorial published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch gives cause for concern.
Echos - my re-blogs, opinions of interest, from St. Louis, Missouri:

Editorial: Why are there more maternal deaths in the U.S. than in other advanced nation?

Women in the United States are three times more likely to die during pregnancy and childbirth than women in Canada, five times more than women in the United Kingdom and six times more than women in Scandinavia. 

Maternal mortality has been in decline for years because of a concerted worldwide public health effort to address the problem. Yet the rate is increasing in America.

That’s appalling, especially considering the very high standard of medical care available in this country. Prospects are grim for improving health outcomes for pregnant women and those in childbirth because of the Trump administration’s $213 million in cuts for teen pregnancy programs, combined with efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, where more low-income women receive contraceptive and prenatal care than abortions.

Much of the problem is that the United States lacks a standardized care protocol for treating women with childbirth complications. The CDC Foundation, a public health care group funded by the Gates Foundation, said a recent analysis of maternal pregnancy-related deaths showed that nearly 60 percent were preventable.


U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Wash., introduced the Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2017 in March. The measure would authorize funding for states to eliminate disparities associated with pregnancy-related deaths and improve health care quality for mothers. No Missourians are listed among the measure’s 59 bipartisan co-sponsors.

The legislation says the United States is ranked 50th globally for its maternal mortality rate and is one of only eight countries where the rate has been increasing. The rate rose 26.6 percent from 2000 to 2014, increasing in nearly all states. At the same time, the nation has reduced the infant mortality rate. The rate is at it lowest point ever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More women die from pregnancy-related complications in the U.S. than in any other developed country, and most deaths result from hemorrhage, hypertensive disease and preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and damage to the liver and kidneys. Health studies show that black women are up to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related problems than white women.


The death rates vary greatly in the United States and are particularly high in the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Georgia and Arkansas. The rate in Texas nearly doubled from 2000 to 2014.

Maternal mortality rates are dropping in California, which formed the Maternal Quality Care Collaborative in 2006 when deaths began rising. The partnership includes more than 40 public and private organizations that use data to improve outcomes for maternal and infant health.

Conservative politicians who claim to be “pro-life” should be the first to express outrage at the nation’s maternal mortality rate. Slashing funds for high-quality medical care to women is the opposite of a solution.

MaineWriter- Although I'm grateful to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for bravely publishing this editorial, it strikes me as a public health policy failure that the Department of Health and Human Services, isn't leading a campaign, about this important health issue.