Notes of a Bobby Watcher
I’m donning my white coat again . . .
Caveats for these pieces, please, if you wish to respond.
1. No name-calling
2. No dis or misinformation
3. Do not hesitate to challenge me. But if so
4. Back up your claims with scientific information and references
5. No politicizing
6. No threats
7. Keep all remarks related to The Secretary
If I see any responses that deviate from these simple suggestions, I will delete them.
And . . .Watch birds will be watching. Here are the Bobby Watch Birds
As a healthcare professional and as a citizen promoting good health, I was greatly disturbed by the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.
I saw a less-than-modest amount of evidence that he was qualified, and I was troubled by his previous behavior and several of his statements like this one in 2021.
“We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine schedule that’s given to whites because their immune system is better than ours.”
Here he demonstrates his lack of knowledge about the immune system. He references studies that purportedly show that Blacks need fewer antigens. This is just not true. It makes no sense.
Ok, so that was a few years ago. Maybe he has done some homework since. There are many more of his beliefs that make no sense. Save that for a future piece.
Then I saw this in his first week on the job.
He was preparing to dismiss key vaccine advisers, vowing to alter longstanding public health priorities and standing by as the Department of Government Efficiency gutted elements of the workforce at health agencies that he’s openly accused of corruption. Really? I have looked for evidence thereof and have found none. Has anyone (facts please)? And I wonder if he was consulted before the firings.
Next: Postponing a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. That simply delays vital discussions and necessary decisions by trusted experts. That committee relies on a well-established, transparent, and evidence-based process for evaluating the optimal use of vaccines that play a critical role in public health. Like the well-proven effective measles vaccine.
Maybe some good:
Though he should have been consulted before the layoffs, at least Kennedy’s team halted some firings at the FDA that they believed unwarranted. Another set of planned terminations at the Indian Health Service forced Kennedy, a champion of Native communities, to intervene and get them reversed. I like that.
Maybe some good: He is a recovered addict. He should promote how he was able to do so. Many may follow his advice. However he needs to address the recovery medications in honest detail.
His plan is risky. This troubles me a bit. In public statements, Kennedy has also repeated the inaccurate claim that the addiction and overdose crisis isn't improving. Fatal overdoses have dropped nationally by more than 20% since June 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, falling below 90,000 deaths in 12 months for the first time in half a decade.
Not-so-good: More Layoffs; 750 workers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which plays a central role in responding to pandemics; more than 1,000 staffers at the National Institutes of Health, which funds and conducts life-saving research; dozens at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which manages public health care and insurance programs; and scores of employees at the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of food, drugs, and medical devices.
Ok, with that in mind, I will wait to see how he will address the measles onslaught in West Texas. 100 cases on Monday, 23 patients were hospitalized for isolation or management of complications.
95% were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Roughly half are school-age children or teens. Twenty-eight of the cases (30%) were younger than 5 years old.
From Vox . . . Kennedy is no longer an outside agitator but the government official ultimately responsible for squashing public health threats in the US.
But the good news is that he is not complicating the local health department’s response.
For your information: Most deaths from measles are from complications that can include blindness and encephalitis.
Here is what I would like him to address, even though the West Texas Health Department is at the forefront. So far, he has been absent.
People need to be vaccinated, a well-proven tool to prevent the spread. The measles vaccine is not tied to autism (Kennedy’s unfounded belief) and no deaths have been linked to the vaccines.
C’mon, Secretary, where are you on this? Vaccinate!!
https://www.the-independent.com/news/health/measles-outbreak-texas-vaccine-exemption-b2696342.html
© 2025
Dr.iannuccilli is addressing a critical failure of our government to place a qualified person in a most important cabinet position. Steve Lepre
I contracted polio when I was 13 years old and spent two months in Chapin Hospital, which was full of polio victims, where I saw many corpses taken away. I was lucky: I couldn't walk for several months and have some permanent damage to my legs, but I survived. The next year the polio vaccine became available, people were vaccinated, and the horror of polio stopped. If people today saw what I saw, they would follow their doctor's advice and get vaccinated.