Over a year ago in February 2025, I posted a topic noting on the insanity of having an HIV-denier and Anti-vaxxer leading the US ‘health and human services’. I got some push-back from @Giltil who cited the MAHA Commission Executive Order and asked me what is wrong with this. I said the following:
I read the full thing. There isn’t anything ‘specifically’ bad about it… nor is there much ‘specifically’ good since there is not much ‘specific’ to be found within it…
…exactly what ‘federal practices’ are they going to end and what ‘powerful new solutions’ will they advocate for? Are the recommendations going to be sound? We will have to wait and see.
I made some other points about the issues I have with RFK Jr. which did not give me confidence about what he would do, but I could not assess this particular executive order since there was little substance to talk about. But now I can, and I will also mention a few other developments in the last year.
The MAHA ‘assessment’ and ‘strategy’ reports
1. Good vibes
The MAHA assessment report was published on May 25, 2025. And the MAHA strategy report was published on September 9, 2025. On the first few pages, the reports states to focus on the issue of “American children’s declining health” and draws attention to four main causes: poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity, chronic stress, and overmedicalization. These broad statement may sound reasonable on the surface, but when we look at the specifics in the rest of the pages, we may encounter falsehoods blended in with truths. RFK Jr. and his supporters are known for shifting their positions between the ‘motte’ and the ‘bailey’. For example, “environmental chemicals” is too unspecific and it is meaningless chemophobic language. Dihydrogen monoxide is also an environmental chemical. Also, the legitimacy of overmedicalization as a problem depends on the specific disease in question. That brings me to…
2. The bad stuff
2.1 Several inaccuracies.
Some of the problems highlighted in the reports are legitimate (e.g. the influence of the food industry and ultra processed foods), but the reports contains several inaccuracies.
- One of them is the claim that asthma medication is over prescribed. In fact, the best evidence indicates asthma is under prescribed according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.
- The same college (as well as others) have noted that this MAHA assessment mischaracterized studies such that the citations do not support the statements contained in the report; and seven of ~500 citations source studies that do not even exist (likely from using A.I.). Some of these non-existing citations were used to bolster argument against the use of mental health medication in children.
- There was also unfounded BS included, such as electromagnetic radiation from cell phones and Wi-Fi routers as a potential cause of childhood illness (including cancer); the usual nonsense like the stuff about aspartame; favoring animal-fat over seed-oils, the effect of fluoride on IQ (which is only occurs with high concentrations which is only found in natural water, not in artificially fluoridated water); and - you guessed it - sections devoted to fearmongering about childhood vaccines.
2.2. Issues omitted
- Regarding childhood type 2 diabetes, the report does mention that the rate has increased significantly. However, this is mainly due to improved screening which is not mentioned in the report. Furthermore, what it does not address is the fact that the rates of diabetes (and other diseases) affect racial demographics unequally. The report makes no mention of such racial and ethnic disparities (except for some titles of the citations). This is unsurprising given the administration’s stance against ”DEI”… by which they mean anything that is seems (even vaguely) focused on marginalized demographics (e.g. women, minorities, LGBTQ).
- While report does mention poor life-expectancy of Americans relative to other OECD countries, it fails to mention some of the key drivers of this trend; e.g. guns, illicit drugs, COVID, lack of healthcare access e.g. the lack of prenatal care leading to high maternal morality rates.
- Of course, the issue of fossil fuels is also not mention (not even in the titles of the ~500 citations) for reasons that are obvious. Focusing on ‘food dyes’ while ignoring these issues is profoundly irresponsible.
2.3. MAHA watered-down
The earlier ‘assessment’ report highlights (whether accurate or not) a plethora of causes, but the ‘strategy’ report followed this up with less critical language and a general lack of strong actions.
- The ‘assessment’ cites pesticides, microplastics, and dioxins found in the blood and urine of American children. It specifically mentions glyphosate (more on that later). However, the ‘strategy’ does not mention any specific pesticide by name. The only milk-toast recommendations to reduce pesticide application is their promotion of ‘precision agricultural technology’.
- The ‘strategy’ emphasizes the partnership between the USDA and EPA with “private-sector innovators” and “food and agricultural stakeholders” [i.e. the very industry that profits from the pesticide production] to ensure “continued investment in new approaches and technologies” and “that the public has awareness and confidence in EPA’s pesticide robust review procedures”. They are clearly pandering to the industry, making clear that the government remains on their side and will do their best to reassure the public that everything is fine.
- The ‘strategy’ makes few concrete calls of action. The main message seems to be ‘more research is needed’. There are no suggestions for any regulatory changes… aside from several ways to DEREGULATE agriculture, food, and drugs. Specifically, they recommend to “reform the approval process” on "chemical and biologic products to protect against weeds, pests, and disease” [that just means ‘pesticides’] and soften the rules on the release of “water discharge and hazardous waste” from the processing and packaging of meat and vegetables.
These facts made many MAHA supporters very disappointed in the ‘strategy’ report, Moms Accross America which have waged a crusade against pesticides and GMOs.
3. How MAHA frames public health
In the first paragraph of the introduction, the report states the worrying trends of chronic diseases affecting children poses
“…a threat to our nation’s health, economy, and military readiness.”
Such framing is also reflected by statements made the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and snake-oil salesman, Mehmet Oz who said
“the most patriotic thing you can do these days is to get healthy.”
Then there is RFK Jr. when he inaccurately describes the conditions of children with autism.
“These are kids who will never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball. They’ll never write a poem. They’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted”.
The importance of public health is to uphold the well-being and dignity of the individual as a human right. The point is not to make citizens into ‘efficient tools’ for the economic meat grinder, nor to protect the interests of the wealthy elites, nor to make them ‘healthy enough’ to serve (and possibly die) for the state. This framing dehumanizes the ill as mere financial burdens on the system, who don’t deserve the human right to healthcare. One might accuse me of being unfair with this interpretation. However, this was echoed explicitly by RFK Jr. during his confirmation hearing when Bernie Sanders was questioning him.
“[Health care should be guaranteed by the US government as a human right] in the way that free speech is a human right? I would say it is different, because with free speech it doesn’t cost anybody anything, but in health care if you smoke cigarettes for 20 years and you get cancer, do you - you are now taking from the pool…”
And to remind you, public access to health care is not even mentioned once in the MAHA reports (except for the titles of the citations).
Other Notes
1. Gutting of research
There are clear contradictions between the stated goals of the MAHA reports and the actions of the Trump administration. The calls for “gold-standard science” to investigate childhood chronic diseases in the reports is undercut by the Trump administration that defunded (non-defense related) science and research via congress and executive orders. RFK Jr. claims that all these cuts were just bureaucratic and did not affect the research and clinical trials themselves, but this is completely false. In a CBS interview, RFK Jr. was asked to comment on cutting the $750,000 grant to the University of Michigan for research in adolescent diabetes. RFK Jr. said he wasn’t aware of these cuts.
2. Infringement on academic independence
In June 2025, RFK Jr. fired all 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and he replaced them with people who have expressed similar anti-vax views; e.g. Robert Malone, a big anti-vaxxer who became famous during the Covid pandemic. At the same time, there is a lack of current expertise in vaccines among the committee members RFK Jr. selected. He did the same in January 2026 regarding the the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC); and yes many of the new members have expressed the long debunked myth that vaccines cause autism. It’s thus not a big leap to infer that RFK Jr. has set-up committees that includes ideologically motivated people who are more likely to agree with his personal view instead of being aligned with scientific consensus. And despite RFK Jr.’s claims, the conflict of interest at the CDC vaccine panel were historically low.
RFK Jr. has also reportedly planned to similarly overhaul the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). They are responsible for recommending which preventative services (e.g. cancer screenings) should be covered by insurance at no cost. As of now, the task force has not been replaced. However, RFK Jr. has canceled every single USPSTF meeting since March 2025. Then there was also the instance when RFK Jr. suggested that he might prevent scientists from publishing their own research in peer reviewed medical journals, which he deems to be corrupt [which in some ways is accurate, but not for the reasons RFK Jr. believes this to be so] and suggests that they will be published in an “in-house” journal… which would be controlled by RFK Jr.
The administration also blocking the publication of the final report on ‘Alcohol Intake & Health’. The study was led by ICCPUD/SAMHSA and was commissioned under the Biden presidency in 2022. A draft of the report was published in January 2025 (days before Trump returned to office). The final version was submitted to the government in March 2025, but the study authors and panelists have reported in September 2025 that they were told the final report would not be published. All of this was happening during the development of the 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines. When these guidelines were published in January 2026, it did not include the previous guidelines of limiting alcohol consumption to 2 drinks for men and 1 drink for women per day. It only states that pregnant women and people recovering from alcohol abuse should “completely avoid alcohol”. But for everyone else, they merely state the advice to “consume less alcohol” without stating a clear limit. This is really maddening since alcohol, while barely mentioned in the MAHA reports, remains one of most significant causes of public health problems:
- Ranking as one of the top 5 leading causes of preventable deaths, it is responsible for 178,000 preventable deaths in the US annually. Two thirds of these deaths are due to chronic diseases caused by long term alcohol consumption (cancer, heart disease, liver disease, etc); and another one third comes acute effects from binge drinking (e.g. poisoning, suicide, car accidents).
- Alcohol also is the number one substance used by people under the age of 21, who are more likely to develop physical and mental health conditions later in life. Under aged drinking kills ~4000 people under the age of 21 in the US annually.
3. Blatant hypocrisy
Very recently in February 2026, RFK Jr. defended Trump’s executive order to produce more glyphosate as an issue of ‘national defense’.
Now, I am very skeptical of some of the common claims made on glyphosate, specifically that it causes cancer. This is a common claim made by people who are very opposed to GMOs. One of their main boogiemen is RoundUp ready crops that are herbicide tolerant to glyphosate. I think the evidence for the claim that glyhosate causes cancer is weak at best (see more on Moran on sandwalk). I also dont think that glyposhate is perfectly harmless. As a herbicide, it has effect on the local ecosystem by killing weeds that some animals rely on, and it could pose an occupational hazard for people who handle the herbicide (exposed to high amounts). But as a consumer, any minor residues left over on the produce is nothing to worry about.
However, RFK Jr. has a long history of anti-GMO activism. As a lawyer, he even won a lawsuit against Monsanto back in 2018. He changed his stance, not because of scientific evidence (of course not). He is also really quiet about climate change for the same reason. He flipped on his environmental positions because he needs to fall in line with Trump; the one who granted him the position of power that RFK Jr. always wanted. But I don’t think this sits well with MAHA supporters.
FIN