Newsroom | Defend Public Health

The nation

Trump Is Destroying Public Health. Democrats Need to Fight Back.

Coordinating Committee member Gregg Gonsalves urges Democrats not to play nice if they regain control of Congress, writing, "Russell Vought and RFK Jr. are deadlier than a virus. The world of hurt inflicted on millions of Americans (and millions more around the globe) by this administration is a catastrophe. It demands an extraordinary response."

48hills

Why won’t the media call a lie a lie?

Coordinating Committee member Bruce Mirken on how many in the news media handle RFK Jr. and some other administration officials: "Let’s just say it. They lie. They know they’re lying. That’s the point. But too many in our media ecosystem clutch their pearls and whisper that if they call a lie a lie, people will think they’re not 'impartial.' Puh-leeze."

The nation

Trump Is a Runaway Train—and Nobody’s Pulling the Brakes

Earlier this week, Defend Public Health, an organization made up of public health experts alienated by the Trump administration’s priorities, released a damning report summarizing Robert F Kennedy Jr.’s most outrageous lies as health and human services secretary over the past year.

Scientific American

Trump's surgeon general nominee praises MMR, hepatitis B vaccines at Senate hearing

President Trump's Surgeon General nominee used her Senate confirmation hearings to try to distance herself from some of the wildly false claim about vaccines made by Trump and HHS Secretary Kennedy. But, as DPH Coordinating Committee member Julie Scofield notes in this article, Saphier has no background in public health and is "exactly the wrong person to be Surgeon General.”

defend public health

Senate Must Reject Nicole Saphier as Surgeon General, Defend Public Health Urges

As Nicole Saphier, President Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Surgeon General, faces her Senate confirmation hearing today, Defend Public Health reiterated its opposition to her nomination. Overall, the group argues that Saphier represents no meaningful improvement over Trump’s two previous nominees, Janette Nesheiwat and Casey Means.

Forbes

Defend Public Health Analyzes RFK Jr.'s Falsehoods

This week marked the first anniversary of Defend Public Health’s “Whopper of the Week” column, which has debunked misinformation from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services in fifty posts... One pattern DPH reviewers noted is that Kennedy “uses fear, anger, and bombast to get attention.”

defend public health

A Year of RFK Jr. Lies: New Analysis Tracks Patterns of Deception

Just over one year ago, Defend Public Health began publicly tracking HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s deceptions, distortions and disinformation in a weekly website feature, the RFK Jr. Whopper of the Week. Now, the group has analyzed the first year of Whoppers – 50 in all – in a new report, Whoppers in Review: RFK Jr.’s Killer Year of Lies, revealing distinct patterns that reflect techniques typical of deceptive propaganda campaigns.

WCPT 820 Interview: Dr. Judy Stone

Physician and Forbes medical contributor Dr. Judy Stone discusses the return of measles and the fact that COVID=19 is very much still with us, citing Defend Public Health as one of the organizations she relies on for solid information now that federal health agencies have been made less reliable.

North Idaho deserves answers on the Panhandle Health District crisis

A leader of DPH's Idaho team addresses concerns about local changes in public health leadership and explains, "Public health is critical infrastructure. It is the people, relationships, expertise and institutional knowledge that allow communities to prevent disease, respond to emergencies, protect the environment and keep people healthy."

RFK Jr's Whopper of the Week

Whopper of the Week: RFK Jr. is Turning Head Start Into a Dead End

RFK Jr. is deregulating and downsizing the sixty year old Head Start program, despite its impressive record of improving the long-term health and well-being of children and their families.

48hills

A (temporary) win for science and sanity

Coordinating Committee member Bruce Mirken updates readers on the recent move to temporarily block the OMB rule politicizing federal grants by attaching language to the funding bill that keeps the government open till Dec. 11. But, he warns, a lot of work remains if we want to block the rule permanently.

SciencePolitics.org

Three Looming Executive Branch Threats to Science for the Public Good and the Public’s Health

DPH Member Dr. Nancy Krieger breaks down three looming threats to health science from the Federal government including putting science budgets at the hands of Trump appointees at OMB, limiting science funding to "profit-making" projects, and barriers to study the health impacts of public policy.