'I Don't Think People Should Take Health Advice From Me'

"I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me," Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during a testy House hearing on Wednesday. He was responding to a question about vaccines from Democratic Rep. Mark Pocan about whether he would choose to vaccinate his children today, NBC News reports. Kennedy, who has previously said he regrets having his children vaccinated, said he would "probably" have them vaccinated against measles. "My opinions about vaccines are irrelevant," he added. Kennedy would not say whether he'd have them vaccinated against chickenpox and polio.

• Democratic lawmakers and public health experts criticized Kennedy's remarks. "That's kind of your jurisdiction because CDC does give advice," Pocan said, per USA Today. "You're the secretary of HHS. You have tremendous power over health policy," said Democratic Rep. Rosa DeLauro. "Vaccines, yes, save lives, and the fact that the secretary of Health and Human Services refuses to encourage children to be vaccinated is a tragedy."
• Public health experts said that while Kennedy doesn't have any medical training, his job involves giving the best health advice he can, NBC reports. "I wonder what it would be like if the transportation secretary refused to answer a question about whether he would fly," said Dr. Marissa Levine, a professor of public health practice at the University of South Florida.

• A Senate hearing Wednesday was just as contentious, the AP reports. Lawmakers from both parties grilled Kennedy on his department's cuts to jobs and programs including medical research and health care. Kennedy told senators he had persuaded the White House to back down from cutting the Head Start preschool program for children from low-income families. He again refused to recommend that parents follow the nation's childhood vaccination schedule.
• In another Kennedy controversy, he posted photos of himself and his grandchildren swimming in a contaminated Washington, DC, creek on Sunday, the New York Times reports. Swimming has long been banned in Rock Creek because it is used for sewer runoff. Authorities warn that it has widespread fecal contamination and high levels of bacteria.

(More Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stories.)