Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on first day at HHS pledges probe of chronic disease and new transparency
February 22, 2025 | U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaking on his first day at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the department would make chronic disease its top priority and would examine potential causes within the agency's first 100 days.
Kennedy framed the effort as a nationwide inquiry into a range of possible contributors to rising chronic illness, saying officials would review "our food, our medicine, our water, our lifestyles, and our environment." He also promised greater transparency at health agencies and an end to hidden conflicts of interest.
"Oh, what I will tell you is that we are going to find out and we're going to do something about it. My commitment to you is that we're going to make chronic disease our top priority," Kennedy said. "In our first hundred days, we're gonna examine every possible contributing factor to the epidemic of chronic disease. We will leave no stone unturned. We're gonna listen to the experts and to the dissidents."
He listed a range of conditions he said Americans suffer from, naming chronic disease, obesity, addiction, cancer, infertility and depression, and said the department would "listen to insiders and to the whistleblowers." Kennedy told listeners he would "enter this inquiry with an open mind and a willingness to be wrong."
Kennedy also said the department would work to rebuild public trust by eliminating secrecy and conflicts of interest. "There's gonna be no more hidden conflicts of interest, no more secrecy, no more profiteering on the substances that we're supposed to be regulating. We're gonna earn the public's trust with honest, unbiased science," he said.
The remarks closed with a production credit: "Produced by the US Department of Health and Human Services." The transcript does not record a formal policy action, staff directive, or implementation timeline beyond the reference to work during the first 100 days.
Kennedy referenced President Trump when describing the priority, saying in the address that "President Trump has made it 1 of his top priorities," and added, "I promise to do everything in my power to carry it through."
Kennedy framed the effort as a nationwide inquiry into a range of possible contributors to rising chronic illness, saying officials would review "our food, our medicine, our water, our lifestyles, and our environment." He also promised greater transparency at health agencies and an end to hidden conflicts of interest.
"Oh, what I will tell you is that we are going to find out and we're going to do something about it. My commitment to you is that we're going to make chronic disease our top priority," Kennedy said. "In our first hundred days, we're gonna examine every possible contributing factor to the epidemic of chronic disease. We will leave no stone unturned. We're gonna listen to the experts and to the dissidents."
He listed a range of conditions he said Americans suffer from, naming chronic disease, obesity, addiction, cancer, infertility and depression, and said the department would "listen to insiders and to the whistleblowers." Kennedy told listeners he would "enter this inquiry with an open mind and a willingness to be wrong."
Kennedy also said the department would work to rebuild public trust by eliminating secrecy and conflicts of interest. "There's gonna be no more hidden conflicts of interest, no more secrecy, no more profiteering on the substances that we're supposed to be regulating. We're gonna earn the public's trust with honest, unbiased science," he said.
The remarks closed with a production credit: "Produced by the US Department of Health and Human Services." The transcript does not record a formal policy action, staff directive, or implementation timeline beyond the reference to work during the first 100 days.
Kennedy referenced President Trump when describing the priority, saying in the address that "President Trump has made it 1 of his top priorities," and added, "I promise to do everything in my power to carry it through."
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