from the exodus dept
By now, it is common knowledge that RFK Jr. had a brain worm that consumed a portion of his brain. It’s actually not as rare or crazy as it sounds at first blush, mind you, but it’s also not terribly common in the United States. And, at the end of the day, a worm ate part of his brain, resulting in some health and memory issues he had as a result of the loss of brain mass.
Kennedy appears to be doing something similar to the Health and Human Services Department he runs. A significant amount of brain power has left HHS and its child agencies. Some of those losses have been due to budget cuts. Some of them have come from RFK Jr. personally firing them, as he did with the vaccine advisory panel at the CDC, replacing them with a group that includes anti-vax lunatics.
But while those instances have grabbed most of the headlines, there is also an exodus of brainpower from HHS from those choosing to leave government services because they no longer believe in those running their departments. The most recent example of this is Dr. Fiona Havers.
Dr. Fiona Havers, who led the CDC’s tracking of hospitalizations from COVID-19 and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), stepped down this week.
“Unfortunately,” she said in an email to colleagues, ” I no longer have confidence that these data will be used objectively or evaluated with appropriate scientific rigor to make evidence-based vaccine policy decisions.” The memo was obtained by The Washington Post. Havers worked at the CDC for 13 years. She presented hospitalization data at ACIP meetings.
Her resignation is the latest in a string of exits from the agency.
Indeed. The CDC specifically has also lost another high-ranking vaccine advisor, not to mention the five senior leaders that resigned earlier this year as a result of the new leadership put in place by the Trump administration. And you can be damned sure that there are many more that have left HHS and its child agencies without having generated any headlines.
It’s clear what is happening here. RFK Jr. is creating a climate inhospitable to the career experts and professionals who don’t align with his views on health and medicine. This is causing many of them to voluntarily leave, while Kennedy is then happy to terminate the employment of those who attempt to stick it out. Once HHS’ brain has been hollowed out by this Kennedy-worm, the cavity can be filled back in with the kind of problematic charlatans who give Kennedy the warm and fuzzies.
What’s important to understand about this is that the damage this is causing is immediate, as we’re seeing with the measles outbreak that is refusing to go away, but that it’s also long term. The harm done to our public health will echo for many years and, perhaps, even generations.
All because nobody is willing to stand up and demand Kennedy be removed from his post.
Filed Under: cdc, expertise, fiona havers, health and human services, rfk jr.
