Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to tackle high rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services. They’re goals that many in the public health world find themselves agreeing with — despite fearing what else the infamous anti-vaccine activist may do in the post.
Just don’t suggest that he tackle those goals with medications like Ozempic.
“They’re counting on selling it to Americans because we’re so stupid and so addicted to drugs,” Kennedy said in an appearance with Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld that he posted to Instagram last month, concluding that Ozempic, a wildly popular medicine approved to treat type 2 diabetes and used off-label for weight loss, is not going to “Make America Healthy Again.”
Kennedy claimed that Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic, doesn’t market the medicine in its home country of Denmark, where “they do not recommend it for diabetes or obesity; they recommend dietary and behavioral changes.”
In fact, Denmark does use Ozempic, so much so that the Danish Medicines Agency said in May that it would restrict its use until after people had tried less expensive medications to treat diabetes. Instead of a shift to eschew medication in favor of lifestyle changes, as Kennedy suggested, it was a cost-cutting move, since more than 100,000 people had received the drug or others in its class, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Denmark also uses Ozempic’s sister drug approved for weight los… Read more
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I can’t even decide what’s worse: RFK Jr. running HHS or the fact that Trump thought this was a good idea. The man spreads dangerous misinformation as a hobby. Now he’s going to oversee the FDA? This isn’t a public health plan; it’s a public health disaster waiting to happen. The real goal here is to dismantle every ounce of trust in science and medicine, one Instagram post at a time.
This is all a symptom of a broken system that treats healthcare as a commodity instead of a human right. RFK Jr.’s nonsense aside, the real villains here are corporations like Novo Nordisk, charging outrageous prices while people die without care. The solution isn’t to demonize medication—it’s to take profit out of the equation entirely.
RFK Jr. being tapped for HHS is a joke, and it’s not a funny one. This is what happens when Democrats keep pushing radical agendas and give someone like Trump the opening to pick fringe lunatics like Kennedy. If liberals had any sense, they’d focus on real solutions instead of creating problems that guys like RFK pretend to solve. But sure, keep blaming conservatives for everything.
Let’s not pretend Big Pharma doesn’t deserve the heat, though. Ozempic costs an arm and a leg, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank while the rest of us can’t afford insulin. RFK Jr.’s a nutcase, but he’s right about one thing: this drug-pushing culture isn’t the answer. What’s Denmark doing differently? Oh, I don’t know—maybe not handing out government subsidies to these pharmaceutical giants?
Ah yes, RFK Jr., the anti-vax poster child. Can’t wait for his press conferences about how lettuce juice will cure diabetes. Meanwhile, Trump’s playing 4D chess by putting another grifter in charge of a system designed to protect us. But hey, at least the stocks for Novo Nordisk will keep soaring. Capitalism wins again.
@PitifulDeerForward1yr1Y
RFK Jr. actually has a point here, even if he’s a broken clock. Why are we so reliant on these overpriced ‘miracle drugs’ instead of focusing on fixing the underlying causes like our terrible diets and sedentary lifestyles? Big Pharma doesn’t care about health—they care about profit. If he calls them out, more power to him.
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