Potent Quacks

 Just minutes after I published my previous post about RFK Jr. and the measles outbreak in Texas, the breaking news came across my notifications that Trump has apparently withdrawn his original nomination to head the CDC—a close Kennedy ally who has expressed similar views on the MMR vaccine. Apparently it was a bridge too far—even for this administration—to have the nation's leading infectious disease monitor be overseen by a doctor who is mostly known for questioning the efficacy of childhood vaccinations, while we are in the midst of the worst measles outbreak and flu season we have had in years. 

So, I guess that's welcome news. But it doesn't change the fact that HHS as a whole is still headed by a man who promotes these same views of the MMR vaccine—and who has discouraged its use in the past. Plus, Trump's other remaining nominees to key public health posts—such as Dr. Mehmet Oz—have a similarly eyebrow-raising track record when it comes to promoting medical misinformation. With the withdrawal of Trump's original CDC pick, then, we may be spared one "potent quack" in the administration (to borrow a phrase I quoted last time from the poet and surgeon George Crabbe)—but there are others. 

It would seem that our nation's public health infrastructure under this administration is to be stocked full of more than one potent quack, long versed in human ills, / Who first insults the victim whom he kills, as Crabbe put it. (Trump's original CDC pick comes across in the Times piece linked above as typical of their kind in his arrogance and contempt—bragging about how he will now make more money in private practice anyway.) And, just as Crabbe describes, in his great work of social criticism, The Village, the people who suffer most from the "care" of such bogus doctors will be the poor who have no other options. 

The "most tender mercy" of such quack physicians, Crabbe wrote, "is neglect." Would—then—that Kennedy and Oz and all their kind would simply leave us alone. But, "no," to borrow a line from Housman, "they will not; they must still / Wrest their neighbor to their will." It will not be enough for them to prescribe bogus remedies and snake oil for themselves or their handful of patients in private practice: they will continue trying to foist them on the public at large. The nation's entire public health infrastructure must be hijacked to serve their medical falsehoods. And millions will pay the price. 

Update 3/14/25:

Dr. Oz had his first confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee today, and he did in fact waste no time in "insulting" his future victims—as foreseen. Oz—who has made a fortune through hawking snake oil to the general public—proceeded to blame Americans for their ill health. "It is our patriotic duty to be healthy," he reportedly said. "It costs a lot of money to take care of sick people who are sick because of lifestyle choices." 

Oh, George Crabbe was right. The "potent quacks" have not changed since the 18th century. They are still contemptuous of their poorhouse victims. They still must heap insults upon their patient's suffering—even as they contribute to exacerbating that suffering through their supposed treatments. And the "drowsy Bench" of the Senate Finance Committee seems poised to let them get away with it.