Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a dangerous person to be put in charge of anything related to Health and Human Services

I’m a pediatric emergency medicine physician and a physician-scientist funded by the National Institutes of Health. (The views expressed are my own, not my employer’s.) Echo opinion letter published in the Houston Chronicle: 

Robert Francis Kennedy Jr., also known by his initials RFK Jr.

Years ago, I cared for a patient who had life-threatening pneumonia that was vaccine-preventable. The child needed multiple tubes in the chest to drain pus from the infection, and many of the organs simply shut down. The lungs no longer worked, so for weeks, using a complex machine, we removed the blood from his body, ran it through a filter to put oxygen back in, and pumped it back through the body.

I vividly remember holding his mother’s hand as she cried in grief and regret for not having gotten her child vaccinated. I advised her that there was nothing she could do about the past, but that moving forward, she could share her story and that of her child, hopefully preventing the pain she experienced for another mother.

This was just one of the many casualties I’ve witnessed due to vaccine disinformaton.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., spreads dangerous misinformation to the detriment of people’s health, ultimately leading to deaths. One alarming example is the 2019, measles outbreak in Samoa. Vaccine hesitancy fueled by misinformation campaigns, including those from RFK Jr.’s organization, Children’s Health Defense, led to over 5,700 cases and 83 deaths, primarily among children. Such actions undermine trust in life-saving public health initiatives. 

Sadly, the dangerous notion that he may lead the federal agency charged with protecting the health of the public is troubling.

Many respected scientists and leaders share the same concerns about processed foods while not being so in love with their preconceived notions that it blinds them to science and facts. Let’s be clear: There is no silver lining to a RFK Jr.-led Department of Health and Human Services.

Shubhada Hooli, in Houston Texas

"A child's health should not be dictated by the circumstances they were born into," Dr. Hooli.

End Russian influence in the American democracy

Russia is trying to disrupt flow of information democracy depends on- echo opinion letter from Florida published in TCPalm.  

"Donald Trump has publicly made more than 8,000 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post," Sooo, is Donald Trump being fed propaganda by a Russian source?

Information is power in a democracy.

One of the major elements of any democracy is an “information system*.” And because ordinary citizens play a significant role in political decision-making within a democracy, information is power. Therefore, if a foreign nation wants to disrupt a democracy, it will use tools (weapons) to damage the democracy’s information system.

Historically, some of these tools have been control of the press; use of rumors, insinuation, fake news techniques; clandestine operation of radio/TV stations; manipulation of political and media figures as collaborators; infiltration of organizations. Add to this, widespread disinformation, intimidation, fear-mongering and infiltration of social media systems.

Does any of this sound pertinent to today’s events? There is overwhelming evidence that Russia is using these tools in its campaigns against the United States.

To examine just a few, look at fake news: Donald Trump has publicly made more than 8,000 false or misleading claims, according to The Washington Post. Collaborators: The list of known indictments and plea deals in Robert Mueller’s probe is more than 37! Infiltration of organizations: A Russian agent with ties to the NRA is under arrest. Radio/TV: Is our president being fed propaganda by a national news agency? The list goes on and on!

We need to proclaim a national emergency and provide funds to build a metaphorical wall around our democracy’s information systems. We need to drain D.C. of any and all individuals with secretive ties to Russia, by means of forced resignation, censorship or impeachment.

We need to end secret spending by dark money groups. We need to be ever vigilant that First Amendment rights are protected. We need to contact our elected representatives and make sure they do not have their heads buried in the sand.

Lee Klein, Vero Beach

*Information History: During the American Revolution, Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was influential- Published in 1776 to international acclaim, Common Sense was the first pamphlet to advocate American independence.