President-elect Donald Trump convened a high-profile meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, and top executives from pharmaceutical giants Pfizer and Eli Lilly, as well as representatives from the industry lobbying group PhRMA, Axios reported.
The meeting also included Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles.
While specific details of the discussions remain under wraps, the convergence of these influential figures suggests a potential re-evaluation of existing health partnerships and policies.
Axios reported:
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Lilly CEO David Ricks were at the dinner. Steve Ubl, CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represented the industry at the table. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, Susie Wiles, also attended.
Zoom out: In his first term, Trump worked in concert with the private sector as part of Operation Warp Speed to accelerate the development and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.
Zoom in: The meeting at Mar-a-Lago included a pre-dinner reception and lasted nearly three hours.
RFK Jr., a long-time critic of the pharmaceutical industry, has been vocal about his concerns regarding the influence of “Big Pharma” on public health policies.
He has accused the industry of exerting undue influence over regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alleging that this compromises public health policies.
Kennedy has also raised concerns about the safety of vaccines and the presence of certain chemicals in consumer products, attributing various health issues to these factors.
Recall, Kennedy explained Trump’s specific mandate for him to Make America Healthy Again.
RFK Jr.: Well, he’s been very specific in what he said. He wants me to do three things. One, clean up the corruption of the agencies, particularly the conflicts of interest that have turned those agencies into captive agencies for the pharmaceutical industry and the other, the food industry, the other industries that they’re supposed to be regulating.
Number two, to return those agencies to the gold standard science, the empirically-based evidence-based medicine that they were famous for when I was a kid.
Number three is to make America healthy again and to end the chronic disease epidemic. And President Trump has told me that he wants to see measurable concrete results within two years in terms of a measurable diminishment in chronic disease among America’s kids.
WATCH:
President Trump has asked me to do three things:
1. Clean up the corruption in our government health agencies.
2. Return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science.
3. Make America Healthy Again by ending the chronic disease epidemic. pic.twitter.com/WHMOsD0CiI— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) November 6, 2024
