7 h. ago Video shows doctor with measles treating kids. RFK Jr later praised him as an ‘extraordinary’ healer

A video shows a Texas doctor, who has been treating children in a measles outbreak, with a measles rash on his face in a clinic while caring for patients a week before he met with Health Secretary Robert F

Culture

46 h. ago How RFK Jr’s mixed messages on vaccines are impacting scientific research – podcast

As a measles outbreak expands across the US, comments by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have come under scrutiny. Kennedy has said that the best way to prevent measles is to get vaccinated – but he has also caused alarm among paediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers by promoting vitamin A and nutrition as treatments for measles and questioning the safety testing of the MMR vaccine. He also recently announced a US-led scientific effort to establish the cause of what he terms the ‘autism epidemic’, with some experts concerned that this study will support the widely discredited association between autism and vaccines. US health reporter Jessica Glenza tells Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, how these mixed messages are already impacting scientific research.RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’ Continue reading...

Science

55 h. ago RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’

US health secretary bucks expert opinion as research shows rise in diagnoses due to better tools and screening Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said in his first press conference that the significant and recent rise in autism diagnoses is evidence of an “epidemic” caused by an “environmental toxin”, which would be rooted out by September.Autism advocates and health experts have repeatedly stated the rise in diagnoses is related to better recognition of the condition, changing diagnostic criteria and better access to screening. Many also reject the label of an “epidemic”, arguing that neurodivergence should be valued. Continue reading...

Politics

56 h. ago Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says US autism cases are climbing at an 'alarming rate'

Health secretary Robert F

Society

57 h. ago RFK Jr sensationally claims five 'toxins' in everyday goods that could be causing autism epidemic

Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has offered a list of 'toxins' that he says could be driving a surge in autism across the US.

Politics

65 h. ago CDC autism report disputes RFK Jr’s claims about why the condition is on the rise

Experts attribute increase in case numbers to improved diagnostics as Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr insists ‘epidemic’ underway

Politics

2 d. ago RFK Jr.'s mixed message about the measles outbreaks draws criticism from health officials

Health secretary Robert F

Politics

3 d. ago Key vaccine committee meets for the first time under Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

A key vaccine advisory committee is meeting for the first time under new U.S. Health Secretary Robert F

Politics

5 d. ago Trump is ‘fully fit’ and manages high cholesterol, says White House physician

Report also shows president is up to date on recommended vaccines as health secretary sows doubts on their efficacyDonald Trump – the oldest person to ever be elected US president – controls high cholesterol with medication and has elevated blood pressure but is “fully fit”, White House physician Sean Barbella said in a report released on Sunday.The US navy captain’s report was published two days after Trump underwent a routine physical. It also said he was up to date on all recommended vaccines – despite his national health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr having spent years sowing doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccination. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago RFK Jr giving families ‘false hope’ on autism, says outgoing US vaccine official

Dr Peter Marks, forced to resign by Trump administration, sees no ‘possible way’ to determine cause by SeptemberThe US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, should not offer “false hope” to families by boasting he can figure out what causes autism as soon as September, says the physician who resigned as the nation’s top vaccine official amid what he called anti-vaccination misinformation from the Trump administration cabinet member.In an interview during which he alluded to his help helming Operation Warp Speed – the initiative that took only about nine months to develop, manufacture and distribute the vaccines protecting the public from Covid-19 – Dr Peter Marks warned that autism “is an incredibly complicated issue”. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago RFK Jr. says HHS will determine the cause of autism by September

Health secretary Robert F

Politics

9 d. ago RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’

Public health experts argue he failed to give a full-throated endorsement of an extremely effective vaccineThe health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, said on a press tour that his response to a large measles outbreak in west Texas should be a “model for the world”. The statement came after Kennedy attended the funeral of a third measles victim over the weekend.Kennedy’s response to the outbreak has been widely criticized by epidemiologists and public health experts, who argue he failed to give a full-throated endorsement of an extremely effective vaccine, that cases appear to be severely undercounted and that officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been deployed late. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Call for 'pothole tax' on supersized SUVs like Range Rovers to address UK's road damage crisis

The colossal cars, many wider than a builder's van and heavier than a small lorry, are chewing up tarmac at an alarming rate and posing a deadly threat to pedestrians and cyclists

Events

1 week ago Is beef tallow really safe for your health and skin? We asked the experts

Robert F Kennedy Jr and social media influencers are proponents of the ingredient – but is it worth the hype?In March, the health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr claimed that beef tallow, an animal fat, is healthier than its plant-based alternative, seed oils. Kennedy said the US wants food companies to “switch traditional ingredients for beef tallow”. Some, like Steak ’n Shake and Sweetgreen, have already done so.Beef tallow, also known as “beef drippings”, is made by removing, simmering, then cooling the fatty tissue that surrounds cows’ organs. American fast-food restaurants used it to deep fry foods like potatoes until the 1990s, when they switched to seed oils. Today, it can be found in soaps, candles and skin care. Continue reading...

Science

1 week ago RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F

Politics

2 w. ago RFK Jr says 20% of Doge’s health agency job cuts were mistakes

Health secretary says roles will need to be reinstated amid Trump administration’s push to slash federal workforceUS politics live – latest updatesAround a fifth of the 10,000 jobs cut from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were done in error and will need to be corrected, the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has admitted.Mass layoffs from the health department began this week amid a push by Donald Trump’s administration to shrink the size of the federal government workforce. Union representatives were told around 10,000 people were to lose their jobs ahead of further reductions that could see the department’s 82,000-strong workforce slashed by nearly a quarter. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Trump fires scientist team studying STD outbreaks as 10,000 workers laid off

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's labs have been dismantled by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as thousands of workers are laid off

Events

2 w. ago US health secretary and agency sued by 23 states and DC over $11bn funding cut

Lawsuit alleges department’s ending of wide array of grants is ‘unlawful’ and poses ‘serious harm to public health’Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia are suing the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, alleging the abrupt terminations of $11bn in public health funding were “harmful” and “unlawful”.The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Rhode Island, says that in March 2025, HHS unexpectedly ended a wide array of grants supporting immunizations, infectious disease tracking, mental health and substance abuse services. The federal government justified the cuts by claiming that the funds were “no longer necessary” because their “limited purpose” had ended along with the Covid-19 pandemic. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Kennedy remains quiet on 10,000 jobs lost at the nation's top health department

Health secretary Robert F

Society

2 w. ago US health agency layoffs gut mine safety, infertility and smoking programs

Thousands lost jobs as sweeping cuts reshape public health, leaving experts and lawmakers scrambling From experts in mine safety to smoking and infertility – mass layoffs hit branch after branch of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’s plan to downsize nearly a quarter of the 82,000-person workforce took effect.Even as the sprawling nature of layoffs became apparent on Tuesday, a complete accounting was elusive. Layoffs were undertaken with few public details, with even apoplectic congressional lawmakers left in the dark. Continue reading...

Politics