RFK Jnr's Failures

US law to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks has been delayed for 15 years

We’re coming to the end of a summer of food safety crises. As an Aug. 20 New Republic piece flagged, in just one week, “the FDA has discovered salmonella in granola, salad dressing, jalapenos, and animal food; glass in fruit popsicles; and metal in sourdough,” recalling 12 products — “a rate four times higher than the same week a year ago.” Of course, there were also the bouts of diarrhea lettuce and E. Coli blueberries. All the jarring headlines about foodborne illnesses are perhaps the most visible indicator of how our public health has been endangered by the Trump administration. Turns out imposing sweeping staff and budget cuts on the FDA, CDC and HHS may not have been the best idea.

But the broader damage RFK Jr. has done during his tenure as HHS secretary is extraordinary. Below, we take a quick look at some of the massive failures of public health under his watch. (We’re keeping it as light and brief as possible because it’s The Weekender, even though some of these examples are truly horrifying. An initial moment of levity: we recently learned at a press conference that the man’s cell ringtone is literally the sound of a quacking duck!?)

5) Making Americans’ Teeth Bad Again

Community water fluoridation “was long considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century,” as the Associated Press put it, noting that the American Dental Association “credits it with reducing tooth decay by more than 25% in children and adults.” Sounds pretty good, right?

Not if you’re RFK Jr. The HHS secretary has called fluoride “industrial waste” and spread misinformation about its health risks, prompting states including Utah and Florida to ban communities from adding it to public drinking water. ProPublica reported last year that lawmakers in at least 21 states have proposed measures to prohibit or roll back the addition of fluoride to public water systems. The Trump admin entirely dismantled the CDC’s Division of Oral Health, nixing its research for and assistance with fluoridation programs. And TPM fellow Farrell Brenner reported that these RFK-fueled conspiracy theories are also prompting patients to turn down fluoride treatments at the dentist’s office and throw out their kids’ fluoridated toothpaste.

4) We’ve All Had to Learn What Cyclospora Is

“Parasite monitoring” is probably not the place to cut back on government funding. Yet RFK Jr.’s CDC did just that in 2025, and then 2026 saw a catastrophic outbreak of cyclosporiasis, with more than 17,000 cases documented as of Aug. 2026, including 922 hospitalizations and two deaths. The main culprit: iceberg lettuce.

The rash of headlines around cyclospora and other severe foodborne illnesses this summer has people joking that the only safe item to consume in the U.S. is Pop-Tarts’ collab with the rotund to-go cocktail brand BuzzBallz. (It’s also put some $280 million of monthly consumer spending on vegetables, which Americans definitely consume enough of, at risk, per consumer data from Numerator.)

3) Threatening the Best Option for Safe Abortion Care

Women in the United States are dying preventable deaths and losing out on essential, basic reproductive healthcare services thanks to state abortion bans and cuts to Medicaid and the VA. Post-Dobbs, the abortion pill mifepristone, which is used in some two-thirds of abortions in the U.S., has been a godsend for women looking to end unwanted or unsafe pregnancies, particularly in states that have restricted access to the procedure.

But RFK Jr. launched a review of the drug’s “safety profile,” even though the FDA itself has said it’s safe and effective when used as indicated (in combination with misoprostol).

2) Waging an All-Out Assault on Vaccines

In a classic addition to the “Do Not Trust What People Say During Confirmation Hearings” genre, RFK Jr. promised not to dismantle U.S. vaccine policy during his 2025 Senate confirmation hearings, helping him win the crucial vote of physician and Republican Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy. You’ll never guess what happened next.

Indeed, Kennedy has slashed the number of vaccines children are scheduled to receive; cancelled some $500 million in funding for 22 mRNA vaccine research projects; replaced the CDC’s expert vaccine advisory panel with cranks; and continued to promote discredited links between vaccination and autism. As the American Public Health Association details, vaccination rates among U.S. kindergartners have fallen and vaccine exemptions “have reached a record high.”

1) Bringing Back All the 20th Century Diseases

In extremely related news, preventable diseases, particularly measles, are on the rise. Two unvaccinated people died from measles in Pennsylvania just this week, some of the over 2,700 cases reported nationally this year — a 38-year high, per the New Republic. (RFK baselessly claimed that “hopeful staffers” in Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office “altogether fabricated” the two deaths, which is pretty repugnant.)

Declining vaccination rates are also expected to bring about a rise in diseases like mumps, whooping cough and meningitis.

Cyclospora in leafy greens, E coli in frozen blueberries, salmonella in
jalapeños – multiple food-borne illness outbreaks in the US, alongside massive cuts to food assistance programs and to the federal agencies charged with food safety, are showing the limitations of the Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement, experts say.

“The policies that we’re enacting are the exact opposite policies one might look to to help people eat healthier,” said Jessica Knurick, a science communicator and registered dietitian with a PhD in nutrition science.

The CDC disputed the two [earlier] deaths and excluded them from its official weekly tally of deaths. The deaths were not included on the CDC’s website. An asterisk on the agency’s website stated that they will not be included “while CDC reviews additional information regarding the circumstances and causes of death.”

“At this time, available information does not establish whether measles caused or contributed to the deaths or whether the individuals died from other causes while infected with measles,” the message stated. “CDC will update the national count as additional information becomes available.”

CDC Director Erica Schwartz has made no public appearances or remarks amid the outbreak. Any information coming out of the agency has been from social media and overtly political.

The US has now recorded more measles cases this year than any other since 1991. The disease was declared to be eliminated by the US government in 2000.

The Food and Drug Administration said on Friday its inspectors had detected cyclospora at the Mexican farm blamed for the largest foodborne illness outbreak of the parasite in US history.

Federal health authorities reported an additional 178 cases of measles in the US this week, as the vaccine-preventable illness continues to sicken people across at least 43 outbreaks.

The new data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) comes as experts criticize the agency for lack of transparency, and as health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr takes steps to further upend US vaccine infrastructure.

The CDC reported 4,588 cases of measles across the country in 2026 as of Friday – more than double the tally for 2025. Pennsylvania alone reported 1,338 cases on the same day. The CDC also reported large outbreaks in South Carolina and Utah, both of which are reporting more than 500 cases.