Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Joins Broad Coalition Opposing RFK Jr.’s Nomination
Washington D.C. — The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board came out against RFK Jr.’s nomination for HHS Secretary, calling him a “threat to American medical innovation.” RFK Jr. has said he’d fire over 600 people at the National Institutes of Health, putting medical innovations and cures at risk. As a historically unqualified nominee — with no meaningful leadership experience, let alone public health experience — RFK Jr. has received broad pushback from medical experts, scientists, and health officials for his conspiracy-driven views.
“The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board is right,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “If RFK Jr. gets his way, every American will be put at risk. RFK Jr. wants to halt critical investments in treatments and cures for conditions like cancer, Parkinson’s, dementia, and more. Combined with his dangerous anti-vaccine views, his agenda is anti-innovation and threatens to bring back completely preventable illnesses from measles to polio. We need a steady leader regulating the entire U.S. health care sector, not a dangerous conspiracy theorist.”
KEY POINTS
Trump “May Owe His Life To The Pharmaceutical Industry That RFK Jr. And His Allies Decry.” “When sick with Covid in 2020, Mr. Trump was treated with Gilead’s antiviral remdesivir—pulled off the shelf from past research on Ebola—and the experimental monoclonal antibody Regeneron. He dubbed the latter a “cure.” He may owe his life to the pharmaceutical industry that RFK Jr. and his allies decry.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24]
RFK Jr. Could Use His Regulatory Power At HHS To “Make It Harder For Medicines To Come To Market.” “The danger is that RFK Jr. would use his regulatory power at HHS to further discourage biopharmaceutical investment and undermine innovation. He says he wants to end alleged corruption between drug makers and government—by which he seems to mean curbing pharmaceutical profits by making it harder for medicines to come to market.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24]
RFK Jr. Opposes Vaccines That Are “Essential To Preventing Disease In Children And Adults.” “But vaccines are also essential to preventing disease in children and adults. Childhood vaccines have all but vanquished deadly infectious diseases in the U.S. HPV vaccines have greatly reduced cervical cancer. Scientists have discovered that latent viruses like Epstein-Barr can trigger auto-immune conditions and cancers later in life, so developing anti-virus vaccines can ward off debilitating diseases.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24]
Trial Lawyers And China Will Benefit From RFK Jr.’s Agenda – Not Patients. “Who will benefit from RFK Jr.’s agenda? The trial lawyers and China, which is seeking to surpass the U.S. in biotech including mRNA. If RFK Jr. were a Democratic nominee, GOP Senators would oppose him as a threat to public health. If they confirm him, they’d better hope they won’t need the cures that won’t be developed.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24]