Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
RFK Jr. pushes a misguided 'do your own research' line as he unveils MAHA report
The more Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks about people doing their own research, the more important it is to explain why he's wrong.
The more RFK Jr. talks about people doing "their own research," the more important it is to explain why this is dangerously misguided advice. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-05-23T17:12:14.163Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/rfk-jr-maha-report-do-your-own-research-rcna208727
But also of interest was what RFK Jr. had to say shortly after the document reached the public. NBC News reported:
...In case the answer to this question isn’t obvious, The Washington Post’s Monica Hesse wrote a compelling column on this a few weeks ago.
Quite right. When the United States has a health secretary who talks about public health issues as if they’re “Choose Your Own Adventure” novels, it’s a reminder that the country has the wrong health secretary.....
RFK Jr. appears to approach these issues with the assumption that the scientific canon is inherently suspect because it’s crafted by those who reject his conspiratorial and unscientific perspective. When he advises Americans to “do their own research,” it’s a recommendation rooted in the idea that people should poke around the internet until they find sites that give them information that seems true — or that they want to be true.
But that’s not a responsible approach to public health. On the contrary, it’s madness.
As my MSNBC colleague Zeeshan Aleem recently explained, “Laypeople cannot understand more technical information about vaccine ingredients, efficacy reports or safety assessments on their own, since understanding that information requires specialized knowledge and a broader contextual understanding of the diseases they guard against. Instead, people have to rely on expert intermediaries to interpret and explain that information for them.”
That the incumbent U.S. secretary of health and human services doesn’t understand this fact should be the source of widespread concern.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who released a long-awaited report on the causes of chronic disease in children, said in an interview with CNN tonight that people should be skeptical of ‘any medical advice’ and that ‘they need to do their own research.’
...In case the answer to this question isn’t obvious, The Washington Post’s Monica Hesse wrote a compelling column on this a few weeks ago.
It probably goes without saying, but just in case: Researching a vaccine is substantially more complicated than researching a stroller. You research strollers by typing ‘best strollers’ into Wirecutter and buying whichever one has cupholders. You research a vaccine by getting a PhD in immunology or cellular and molecular biology, acquiring a lab in which you can conduct months or years worth of double-blind clinical trials, publishing your findings in a peer-reviewed academic journal, and then patiently navigating the government and industry regulations that are required to make sure your vaccine is safe and effective.
Quite right. When the United States has a health secretary who talks about public health issues as if they’re “Choose Your Own Adventure” novels, it’s a reminder that the country has the wrong health secretary.....
RFK Jr. appears to approach these issues with the assumption that the scientific canon is inherently suspect because it’s crafted by those who reject his conspiratorial and unscientific perspective. When he advises Americans to “do their own research,” it’s a recommendation rooted in the idea that people should poke around the internet until they find sites that give them information that seems true — or that they want to be true.
But that’s not a responsible approach to public health. On the contrary, it’s madness.
As my MSNBC colleague Zeeshan Aleem recently explained, “Laypeople cannot understand more technical information about vaccine ingredients, efficacy reports or safety assessments on their own, since understanding that information requires specialized knowledge and a broader contextual understanding of the diseases they guard against. Instead, people have to rely on expert intermediaries to interpret and explain that information for them.”
That the incumbent U.S. secretary of health and human services doesn’t understand this fact should be the source of widespread concern.