Joseph Ladapo, who has drawn scorn from public health experts, is being considered by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the role, which requires Senate confirmation.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who recently sparked controversy with claims that former President Donald Trump has promised him “control” of public health agencies in a second Trump administration, has been privately advising the Trump transition team on prospects for cabinet positions — including recommending a fellow vaccine skeptic, Joseph Ladapo, to lead the federal agency responsible for public health protection, according to sources.
WASHINGTON POST
Joseph A. Ladapo is on a list of HHS secretary candidates being assembled by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has been charged with helping select staff for the nation’s health and food agencies if Donald Trump wins office [Trump won Tuesday], according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the planning process. HHS is responsible for overseeing Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act; approving vaccines, medications and health-care devices; coordinating responses to disease outbreaks; and numerous other priorities across its nearly $2 trillion budget.
Ladapo, who has served as Florida’s surgeon general since 2021, has repeatedly defied public health practices — such as failing to urge parents to vaccinate their children or keep unvaccinated students home from school during a recent measles outbreak — drawing scorn from public health experts who say his decisions have imperiled Florida residents.
One person familiar with the process said that Kennedy was considering Ladapo to lead HHS, but there was “no firm candidate” to oversee the sprawling health agency in a possible Trump administration.
“He is on a preliminary list with many other names for consideration and due diligence,” the person said. “Only a list of potential candidates.”
Ladapo also is being considered for a position such as U.S. surgeon general, the nation’s top doctor, according to the other person familiar with the process. That role does not require Senate confirmation, unlike HHS secretary.
The Florida health department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ABC News first reported that Kennedy, who has long questioned vaccine safety, had identified Ladapo as a candidate to run HHS under Trump.
“We are still talking to people and he is among the people we are talking to,” Kennedy told ABC News, crediting Ladapo’s willingness to also question vaccine safety and “government orthodoxies” during the coronavirus response.
Kennedy, who has been traveling with Trump in the closing days of the presidential campaign, is in line for a senior position overseeing health and food in a potential Trump administration, The Washington Post reported [last week].
The prospect of a vaccine skeptic such as Ladapo in a national health role has alarmed public health experts, pointing to his decision to warn Florida residents against the mRNA coronavirus vaccines while citing debunked claims. No other state public health officer has followed his lead.
“We know vaccines work — full stop. We know they save lives,” said Chrissie Juliano, executive director of Big Cities Health Coalition, a nonprofit that works with the nation’s largest city health departments. “We know they’re cost-effective, and anyone who says otherwise is not telling the truth.”
Ladapo drew national attention in the early days of the covid-19 pandemic, writing essays for the Wall Street Journal that questioned coronavirus vaccines, mask-wearing and other interventions. The articles won him support from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who recruited the University of California at Los Angeles professor to serve as his top health deputy.
Scott Rivkees, who served as Ladapo’s predecessor as Florida surgeon general under DeSantis, said he opposed the idea of Ladapo holding a senior role in national government.
“To consider someone with Dr. Ladapo’s stated attitudes towards commonly held medical and public health practices for a leadership role in HHS, which is an agency that protects and promotes our well-being, should make us all worry,” said Rivkees, now a Brown University professor and physician.
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