77 Nobel laureates sign a letter asking the Senate not to confirm RFK Jr. for the Health Dept.

Donald Trump nominated Robert Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Without Senate confirmation sessions, 77 Nobel laureates signed a letter asking senators to decline Kennedy's nomination, claiming he would be a "danger to public health and would undermine America's global leadership in the health sciences."

"For too long, Americans have been crushed by the food industrial complex and pharmaceutical companies that have engaged in deception, misinformation and misinformation when it comes to public health," Trump said in mid-November when he made public his intentions to nominate Kennedy.

Less than a month later, a group of Nobel laureates wrote a joint letter criticizing Kennedy to be at the helm of DHHS.

"A danger to public health"

The statement, signed by medical Nobelists Gary Ruvkun, Gregg L. Semenza and Louis J. Ignarro, among others, is addressed to all senators, who will ultimately decide whether to confirm RFK Jr. for his post.

"In addition to his lack of credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science , public health, or administration, Mr. Kennedy has been an opponent of many health - protecting and life-saving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio; a critic of the well-established positive effects of fluoridation of drinking water; a promoter of conspiracy theories about remarkably successful treatments for AIDS and other diseases; and a belligerent critic of respected agencies (especially the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health)," they noted.

"The leader of DHHS should continue to nurture and improve--- not threaten---these important and highly respected institutions and their employees. In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine America's global leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial sectors. We strongly urge you to vote against the confirmation of his appointment as Secretary of the DHHS," they said.

Among the signatories was Daron Acemoglu, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2024 and co-authored the famous book "Why Countries Fail."