HHS under Robert Kennedy, Jr is taking us back to the dark ages in medicine, with his opposition to vaccines and choice of people to decide on vaccine policy. The CDC and its director have refused to make definite recommendations for Covid-19 vaccines for elderly people. A mandate may not be necessary, but a strong recommendation makes it more likely that older people will receive the vaccine, which would save lives. And Kennedy has altered the childhood vaccine schedule. Physicians around the nation are saying that they are seeing illnesses and even deaths due to diseases that were once controlled by vaccines. These include bacterial pneumonia and meningitis, as well as measles and whooping cough. In the Fall of 2026, a measles outbreak attacked the population of Pennsylvania. As reported by its Health Department, there were over 1300 cases through October 23. This was the highest number for any state since 1991. These cases necessitated 255 hospitalizations and caused 6 deaths. Kennedy’s cutting back on required vaccines resulted in a deadly outcome. He is not an infectious disease expert and ignores scientific studies. One of the sad aspects of Trump’s gutting of American research facilities, including the NIH, CDC, and multiple university laboratories, is that various new therapies for different diseases have recently been developed. This includes Alzheimer’s and some cancers where promising treatments and even cures have been produced. A new drug has been found that helps pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest neoplasms, to double survival time. This is just one of the advances recent research projects have brought us. But anti-science Trump doesn’t care. The CDC has recommended a vaccine schedule for children for decades, followed by most parents and pediatricians. This schedule was formed by a panel of independent physicians and scientists with diverse experience following longstanding public health principles. In early January 2026, Secretary Kennedy of HHS and a group of political appointees changed the vaccine schedule, cutting the number of diseases children would be protected against. If the child’s personal physician insisted, other vaccines could be obtained to inoculate the child. Kennedy is looking to change the format of vaccinations, giving shots based on personal preference instead of a scientifically based process. As has already been shown with measles, this could be a very hazardous change. In recent years, there has been increased corporatization of medicine in the United States. The government seems to be quite content with this set-up as it absolves them of much responsibility for patient care. Private equity and venture capital firms have been acquiring medical facilities and taking over the delivery of care. Some specialize in outpatient units like urgent care facilities or emergency rooms, some focus on laboratories or radiology practices, some buy intensive care units, entire hospitals, rehabilitation units, and so forth. These private equity companies run the units to make money, and they hire the physicians, nurses, PAs, technicians, administrators, etc. The private equity format where profit is primary is not good for physicians and other personnel and not good for patients. All personnel have set amounts of time to see patients and perform their jobs and productivity is carefully monitored. If a physician regularly spends too much time with patients, he or she may be fired. Time is money. In addition, physicians who order the most tests are positive additions as they generate cash for the facility. This is not the way medicine should be practiced. An analyst writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association put it this way- “The Grip of financial self-interest in US healthcare is becoming a stranglehold with dangerous and pervasive consequences. No sector of US healthcare is immune from the immoderate pursuit of profit, neither drug companies, nor insurers, nor hospitals, nor investors, nor physician practices.” Due to lack of funding and personnel, many rural hospitals and healthcare facilities have had to shut down. Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act have also been cut back by the Trump administration, leaving many poor people with decreased or no health insurance. The body that oversees rural and community health, the Health Resources and Services Administration, has lost funding and personnel as well. These are in keeping with the Trump Administration’s priorities. www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020