Washington DC - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ousted a number of senior experts on the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and said he'd install his own people.
Dr. John Wong of Tufts Medical Center, the USPSTF's chair, and Esa Davis of the University of Maryland's School of Medicine, the panel's vice chair, were quietly removed from their positions by RFK Jr. on May 11, CNN reports.
The firings were carried out via letters sent by RFK Jr.'s office, which argued "the Department is taking this step to help protect the Task Force and preserve confidence in the continuity and durability of its work."
In the letter, the HHS accused both Wong and Davis of posing a risk of "uncertainty that could jeopardize the validity of future Task Force actions," but did not specify what those risks are.
RFK Jr.'s firing of the two top experts on the USPSTF comes a month after he labeled the panel "lackadaisical and negligent" and told lawmakers that he intends to replace the current members with his own people.
The USPSTF is a crucial part of the HHS as it decides which preventative medical services must be fully covered by all insurers. Last year, RFK Jr. threatened to disband the task force, claiming it is too "woke."
"Both of us have volunteered thousands of hours to review the latest scientific research and help develop evidence-based recommendations," Wong told CNN via email.
"We are deeply committed to supporting the hundreds of thousands of primary care clinicians and the millions of patients nationwide who count on our recommendations to save and keep healthy as many lives as possible."