Health experts said Kennedy’s ‘repeated efforts to undermine science and public health’ have left Americans ‘less safe’.Published On 4 Sep 20254 Sep 2025More than 20 health groups and medical associations have called on Robert F Kennedy Jr to step down as the United States’ health secretary, accusing him of putting lives at risk by disregarding decades of lifesaving science and reversing medical progress.In a joint statement published on Wednesday, the groups – including the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Public Health Association, and the American Association of Immunologists – said Kennedy is forcing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) experts to “turn their back on decades of sound science” to further his agenda.The groups also accused Kennedy of “repeated efforts to undermine science and public health”, leaving Americans “less safe in a multitude of ways”.“Our country needs leadership that will promote open, honest dialogue, not disregard decades of lifesaving science, spread misinformation, reverse medical progress and decimate programs that keep us safe,” the statement said.“We are gravely concerned that American people will needlessly suffer and die as a result of policies that turn away from sound interventions,” it added.The letter comes after multiple former CDC directors said last week that Kennedy’s decisions are putting Americans’ health at risk, after he fired the agency’s director, Susan Monarez, less than a month after she was sworn in.White House Deputy Press Secretary Kush Desai said Monarez was not “aligned with” President Donald Trump’s agenda and refus …
