HHS responds to former surgeon general who wrote op-ed saying RFK Jr. is endangering the nation’s health

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responded to an op-ed written by the six newest surgeons general, who said they wanted to warn the United States about the dangers of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The en-ed, published in the Washington Post On Tuesday, he called the health secretary’s policies and positions an “immediate and unprecedented” threat to the nation’s health.

In a statement to ABC News, HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the doctors are the same officials “who presided over the deterioration of America’s public health.”

“Now they are criticizing the first secretary for confronting him head-on,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to restoring trust, reforming broken health systems, and ensuring that all Americans have access to real choices in their health care.”

In the op-ed, the surgeon general referenced Kennedy’s views, including repeating the false claim that childhood vaccines cause autism and misrepresenting the risks of COVID-19 vaccines, despite studies which found that vaccines prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths.

The “nation’s doctors” as surgeons general are commonly described as providing public health guidance and warnings to the country, and also noted decisions made by Kennedy, including promoting unproven treatments as measles spread in the US.

They also made reference to their elimination of all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee and replacing them with its own carefully selected members, many of whom share skeptical views about vaccines.

Among the authors was Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as surgeon general for most of President Donald Trump’s first term, including the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

in a publish in X Sharing a link to the op-ed, Adams called misinformation, loss of trust in doctors and the destruction of public health as deadlier than cigarettes.

“Neither I nor the five other living Surgeons General wanted to ask for this unprecedented warning, but we all felt duty-bound to do so,” he wrote.

Dr. Richard Carmona, who was surgeon general under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2006 and another author of the op-ed, told ABC News that he is urging Americans to “ignore” Kennedy’s rhetoric on vaccines.

“In the name of the people, vaccines are safe, you should consult with your healthcare provider, get the best information, get your child vaccinated, and unfortunately, ignore what you are hearing from Secretary Kennedy and many of his politicians. designated persons who continue to provide misinformation and disinformation to confuse the public,” he said.

The op-ed comes about a month after seven former directors and two former acting directors of the CDC wrote an op-ed for The New York Times accusing Kennedy of endangering the health of Americans.

Meghan Mistry of ABC Newsd Here’s Haslett. docontributed to this report.