OPINION: If Kennedy goes ‘wild’ on health care, watch out

To say that I was disappointed in the presidential election results is an understatement. But the American voters articulated their choice, and Donald J. Trump will be the president next year. I just hope that their desires and expectations will be achieved, and the future for the American people and the American government will be good.

As I look at the initial nominations to the cabinet and other top positions, I have concerns. A Fox News host with no managerial or national security experience as the secretary of defense? A Russian apologist who served as a House member and has little foreign policy or intelligence experience as the director of national intelligence, caretaker of our deepest national security secrets? An eight-year congressman under ethics investigation who has never served as a prosecutor, judge or even managed a legal practice as the head of the Department of Justice? And a very strange, nonmedical individual as head of Health and Human Services, which involves the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, Medicare and Medicaid?

Differences on policies is one thing. Big tariffs, tax cuts and increases in immigration efforts are policy decisions, many of which will, I believe, have their own adverse effects. But these can be discussed as differences of opinions.

There is a bigger problem looming. I think that the denial of expertise in favor of a history of personal support for the president-elect is not a good sign for the future of the country or its citizens. Denying science and proven fact will be harmful.

Could it be true that the nominee for secretary of defense brags that he hasn’t washed his hands in a decade and believes that germs are not real because he cannot see them? Isn’t he in charge of defense against biologic warfare, including smallpox and anthrax? Later, when confronted with the statement, he said he was joking. Right.

But Robert Kennedy Jr.’s statements and beliefs about health issues are downright scary. The president-elect said he will let Kennedy ”go wild on health care.” I am skeptical that “going wild” will result in benefits for Americans. Sound science and demonstrated effectiveness, all subject to scientific scrutiny, is the way to go.

The Department of Health and Human Services covers not just the FDA (which regulates the safety of our food and drugs), but also the CDC (which oversees public health and contagious disease, including vaccines), the National Institutes of Health (which is responsible for scientific investigation of causes, prevention and treatment of disease), Medicare (which provides health insurance for 66 million senior and disabled Americans), Medicaid (which provides health insurance for more than 74 million Americans) and the “Obamacare” insurance exchanges, (which cover an additional 20 million more).

For someone who has never worked in the public sector, in public health or even the provision of health care, Kennedy’s gap in knowledge is staggering. Trump’s first administration at least had people familiar with health and health care, including former Health and Human Services Secretaries Alex Azar and Tom Price.

Kennedy has espoused bizarre positions regarding the effectiveness of medications, such as ivermectin, the benefit of proven public health measures, such as fluoride for tooth decay prevention, and advocated strange nutritional direction. Remember when Michelle Obama tried to improve school lunches?

Vaccine denial is another Kennedy position that, as a pediatrician, I find especially troubling. Vaccines approved by the FDA and recommended by the professionals on the Committee on Immunization Practices are safe and effective. In my time in practice, I saw diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio. I treated plenty of kids with hemophilus influenza, pneumococcal or meningococcal brain infections (meningitis), some of whom died or were left permanently damaged.

All of these diseases have proven, effective vaccines, which are successful in preventing severe disease and complications. Measles, because of its rapid spread, is a serious disease in susceptible populations because of pneumonia and encephalitis. Chicken pox can be a killer for immune-suppressed children and adults. Vaccines work and save lives.

How can the head of U.S. health policy and services deny the experience and science behind them?

Kennedy also has “unique” beliefs about the value of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, stem cell treatment and the pasteurization of milk. Should we undo the health advances that began with Louis Pasteur in the 19th century?

Again, in order to make these kind of policy pronouncements, there should be an understanding of medical science. I am really concerned about the consequences if the Trump administration listens to Kennedy and “goes wild on health care” without being tethered to reality and science. Conspiracy theory does not make for good public health policy or for a healthy future for our families.

Rusche, of Clarkston, is a retired physician who served six terms in the Idaho House.