Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was scorched on social media Friday night amid revelations he plans to purge an entire panel of experts tasked with deciding which cancer screenings and other preventive services insurance plans are required to cover.
Kennedy plans to dismiss all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for being too “woke,” people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal on Friday night. The independent panel of national experts is tasked with making recommendations about clinical preventive services, such as screening tests, counseling services, and preventive medications.
The task force became a target for the right by using terms such as “pregnant persons" and highlighting racial discrimination during a discussion on risk factors for anxiety in older children and teens, according to the report.
The move sparked immediate backlash from Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who sits on the Senate’s health committee.
“In no world should experts be replaced with unqualified anti-science cronies of RFK Jr. who will make preventive healthcare more expensive and harder to get over baseless conspiracy theories or debunked disinformation,” Murray told the Journal.
Kennedy found himself under fire on social media for the move.
"I think it's time for us to view Kennedy's actions as an attack not just on our public health but the country itself. He's an incredible monster," chided Democratic strategist Simon Rosenberg on Bluesky.
Dr. Richard Ferro wrote on Bluesky, "It's really hard to tell at this point but I think years from now this will be one of the most destructive things that RFK Jr did at HHS. Mammograms, FIT tests and colonoscopies, diabetes, blood pressure, depression screens. All of these are as widely available as they are because of USPSTF."
Ferro added, "To gut the task force responsible for making cancer screening accessible to the general public when rates of cancer are increasing in young people is downright vile."
Dr. Elizabeth Jacobs, an epidemiologist, wrote on Bluesky, " This nepo grandpa needs to be permanently confined to Hyannis Port with no internet access."
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist, warned on Bluesky, "DARK DARK DARK—Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is planning to remove all the members of an advisory panel that determines and mandates what preventive measures insurers must cover. Removal of USPSTF means we are about to enter a very dark era. Mega insurers like United Healthcare are gleeful right now."
Elizabeth A Woodside, a retired teacher, railed on Bluesky, "RFK wants us all to die."
Former IT professional and actor Tom Shafer wrote on Bluesky, "RFK Jr *is* a major health threat to Americans."
Scott Lemieux sent a reminder to his Bluesky followers in a profane post.
"Your periodic reminder that every member of the Republican Senate conference but one voted for this a--hole," he said.