Kennedy’s Scary Ideas, and Ones Worth Considering

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To the Editor:

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recently chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, is well known for a collection of preposterous beliefs: among others, his anti-vaccine stance, his assertions that H.I.V. does not cause AIDS, and his advocacy of raw milk and demonstrably failed treatments like ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine and chelating compounds.

Anyone who believes that these are benign statements, mere differences of opinion, and would have no effect on Americans should R.F.K. Jr. be confirmed ought to carefully read David A. Kessler’s Nov. 27 Opinion guest essay, “I Ran Operation Warp Speed. I’m Concerned About Bird Flu.”

Specifically, Dr. Kessler notes: “California has recently seen a significant rise in detections of H5N1 in dairy herds …. That is why it is important to pasteurize milk, which kills the virus.”

Should this virus mutate, as Dr. Kessler fears, and evolve to human-to-human transmission, R.F.K. Jr.’s advocacy of raw milk will be deadly.

This is just one example of the actual damage that could accrue should R.F.K. Jr. be confirmed.

Sheldon Hirsch
Wilmette, Ill.
The writer is a nephrologist.

To the Editor:

Re “What Kennedy Might Do With Vaccines,” by Michael T. Osterholm and Ezekiel J. Emanuel (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 23):

Donald Trump’s intention to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the secretary of health and human services is potentially tragic, given that he is a vaccine skeptic. For many who rarely think about the vaccine benefits they’ve received over their lifetime, this may not seem to be an issue, but for me it is personal.

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