"One year of failure." The Lancet slams RFK Jr.'s first year as health chief

NPR News · Feb 28, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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FILE - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump's choice to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, appears before the Senate Finance Committee for his confirmation hearing, at the Capitol in Washington, Jan. 29, 2025 Ben curtis/AP hide caption toggle caption Ben curtis/AP One of the world's leading medical journals has issued a scathing rebuke of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to mark his first year leading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The editorial — titled "Robert F. Kennedy Jr: 1 year of failure" — appears in the latest issue of the Lancet. A quote from the piece marks an otherwise blank front cover: "The destruction that Kennedy has wrought in 1 year might take generations to repair, and there is little hope for US health and science while he remains at the helm." The journal's editorial board catalogues many of the controversial actions taken under Kennedy's watch, including the dismissal of agency employees, "revisions of guidelines and recommendations contradicting decades of established science," cuts to cutting-edge scientific research, the undermining of vaccine policy and promotion of "junk science and fringe beliefs." The Lancet is one of the oldest peer-reviewed medical journals in circulation. It also boasts one of the highest impact factors, making it one of the most cited medical journals in the world. An HHS spokesperson didn't immediately respond to NPR's request for comment on the new editorial. However, Secretary Kennedy has made no secret of his disdain for mainstream medical journals. In a podcast appearance last year, Kennedy said government scientists were "probably going to stop publishing" in some of the most high-profile journals — including the Lancet — "because they're all corrupt" and beholden to the pharmaceutical industry. He's even threatened legal action against journals. Allies of Kennedy quickly came to his defense — among them National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya. "Sec. Kennedy is fixing the mess they helped make," he wrote on X in response to the editorial. Others, including critics of Kennedy, pointed out the Lancet is the same journal that once published the infamous — and discredited paper — by Andrew Wakefield claiming a link between vaccines and autism. More than a decade later, the journal retracted the paper. The editorial comes just as the country has crossed a sobering milestone. On Friday, the U.S. surpassed more than 1,000 measles cases in 2026 alone, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The escalating outbreaks across the country makes it likely the U.S. will soon lose its measles elimination status. The Lancet editorial begins by citing Kennedy's pledge, when he took the job as secretary, to restore trust in public health and have "honest engagement with everyone willing to work towards making the USA healthy again." But Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins, says "nobody should be surprised" by the actions taken by Kennedy. "You basically have the most prolific anti-vaccine advocate in the highest position of power in the federal government when it comes to health," he told NPR.