Hundreds of federal health employees have written to US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, urging him to “stop spreading inaccurate health information”.
The letter, signed by over 750 current HHS staff, accuses Kennedy of “sowing public mistrust by questioning the integrity and morality of CDC’s workforce”.
Kennedy has previously referred to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a “cesspool of corruption” during his 2024 presidential campaign.
The health workers also expressed concerns about Kennedy’s policies, including cuts to thousands of HHS employees, which they say are creating “dangerous gaps in areas like infectious diseases detection, worker safety, and chronic disease prevention and response”.
“The deliberate destruction of trust in America’s public health workforce puts lives at risk,” the workers warned. They cited Kennedy’s false claims about the measles vaccine, which have undermined the public health response to the disease.
The letter comes weeks after a gunman fired hundreds of bullets into the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, killing police officer David Rose, 33, before taking his own life.
The shooter had publicly expressed his distrust of COVID-19 vaccines. The health workers see this incident as another example of the dangers resulting from Kennedy’s words.
In response, the HHS stated that “Secretary Kennedy is standing firmly with CDC employees – both on the ground and across every center – ensuring their safety and wellbeing remain a top priority”.
However, critics argue that Kennedy’s actions and words are eroding trust in public health institutions. Kennedy has long been accused of spreading vaccine misinformation, including during a 2019 visit to Samoa, which some link to a subsequent measles outbreak that killed 81 people, mostly babies and young children.
Kennedy’s recent decision to cancel hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for research into mRNA vaccines has also sparked controversy.
Ribonucleic Acid messenger(mRNA) vaccines have been credited with preventing millions of deaths from COVID-19 and have the potential to treat diseases such as cancer and HIV.
William Foege, former CDC director, has urged public health workers not to back down in the face of such challenges. “We will live through this drought of values, principles, and facts and again apply our talents to improving global health and happiness,” he wrote. Foege warned that Kennedy’s words are “dangerous” and that “Americans deserve better”.