RFK Jr.’s insistence that the government ignores chronic disease is misguided
In testimony before the Senate this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made it apparent that he would prioritize chronic illnesses over infectious ones if he were confirmed as secretary of health and human services.
Kennedy told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday that we have spent a lot of money on drug development and infectious disease research, but not much on chronic illness.
Kennedy attributed the excessive expense of health care to the prevalence of chronic diseases in the US and said he was in a unique position to stop it. In his introductory remarks, he noted that the prevalence of chronic diseases in children should be given priority, along with the rising incidence of diabetes, cancer, obesity, and asthma. (The National Survey of Children's Healt...