Donald Trump picks Robert Kennedy Jr to run US health department

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Donald Trump has nominated vocal vaccine sceptic and former Democrat Robert F Kennedy Jr as head of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the latest in a series of controversial picks for top cabinet jobs.

The appointment will put Kennedy, who sowed doubts about Covid-19 vaccines and has been critical of the pharmaceutical industry, in charge of a department with a $1.8tn budget with wide-ranging influence over drug regulation and public health.

Trump said in a statement on Thursday that he was “thrilled” to appoint Kennedy to the role. “For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” the president-elect wrote in social media post.

As head of HHS, with oversight of agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Protection, Trump said Kennedy would “restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

This is a developing story