Another Colossal Mistake: RFK Jr’s Firing of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Chairs
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier this month, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the two chairs of the U.S Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), Dr. John B. Wong and Dr. Esa M. Davis. For 40 years, the USPSTF has improved the health of Americans with its evidence-based non-partisan recommendations on mammograms, colonoscopies, and other preventive services. The USPSTF has not met in over a year, and eight of its 16 positions are now vacant. Kennedy will appoint half of the members. Moreover, by firing the chairs, Kennedy has removed them from their traditional role of providing independent review of new member applications. Both Wong and Davis have reapplied for non-leadership positions. The nomination window ends on Saturday, May 23.
Dr. Robert Steinbrook, Health Research Group Director at Public Citizen, issued the following statement:
“Before the USPSTF even meets for the first time in more than a year, Kennedy has undermined its independence and integrity by dismissing the committee chairs for specious reasons – eliminating their role in the long-standing unbiased review process for new member applications. To be credible, the task force’s deliberations and recommendations must invariably be transparent, non-partisan, independent of all companies in the health care field, and exclusively based on medical evidence.
“The path forward is for Kennedy to immediately re-instate the USPSTF chairs, fully involve them in the review of new member applications, and commit to not firing additional task force members. The debacle of dismantling the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices must not be repeated.”