Dem
47
GOP
53
The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of HHS has many public health experts alarmed. If he is confirmed, which is far from certain, he could try to do many things to reduce vaccinations, which in turn could lead to epidemics of measles, polio, and other diseases that have long been beaten down. The one consolation the experts have is that Kennedy knows absolutely nothing about running a department with 80,000 people. He will have to rely on his #2 to actually make sure his orders are carried out and he will have to hope the #2 doesn't feed him bogus reports about how everyone is complying.
The experts got some bad news earlier this week when Donald Trump nominated Jim O'Neill as the deputy secretary of HHS. O'Neill's background is running Peter Thiel's Mithril Capital Management, although he also had a small role in George W. Bush's administration.
O'Neill's view about pharmaceuticals is, er, interesting. He believes that if a drug company offers a new drug and tests show that it is safe, it should be approved. Current rules require new drugs to be both safe and effective. If O'Neill gets his way, companies will be able to offer sugar pills as cures for cancer or other diseases and as long as testing shows they do no harm, they can be sold with an FDA approval label. The opportunities for grifters will skyrocket. It is easy to make a pill that is safe: Just put common, safe ingredients in it. If testing the effectiveness is no longer required to get FDA approval, the market will be flooded with useless drugs. Grifters will rejoice, but how will doctors know what to prescribe if FDA approval no longer means the drug works? The only thing we don't know yet is how Trump will manage to get a cut of the grifters' profits. Maybe the new rule could be: The drug must be safe and the company must pay a large "fee" to Trump to ensure speedy approval. Since overseeing the FDA is part of his official duties, that would presumably be legal. Right, John Roberts? (V)