Originally published on www.childrenshealthdefense.org by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

Six former U.S. surgeons general accused U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of "endangering the health of the nation" in an op-ed published Tuesday in The Washington Post. One of them, Vivek Murthy, who served in the Biden administration, is named in a censorship lawsuit filed by Children's Health Defense.

Six former U.S. surgeons general accused U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of "endangering the health of the nation" in an op-ed published Tuesday in The Washington Post.

The former surgeons general -- Jerome Adams, Richard Carmona, Joycelyn Elders, Vivek Murthy, Antonia Novello and David Satcher -- have served in every administration since that of former President George H. W. Bush.

Murthy is a defendant in a lawsuit filed in 2023 by Children's Health Defense (CHD) against the Biden administration. The suit, renamed CHD v. Trump after President Joe Biden left office, is pending in federal court.

"Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this," the surgeons general wrote. "But the profound, immediate and unprecedented threat that Kennedy's policies and positions pose to the nation's health cannot be ignored."

They accused Kennedy of pursuing policies that have undermined science and scientific research and deemphasized "lifesaving" vaccines.

They also suggested that Kennedy's policies resulted in the measles outbreak in some U.S. states and the August shooting at the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that left the gunman dead.

Steve Benen, a producer for MSNBC's "The Rachel Maddow Show," said this is "the first time that six former surgeons general … have issued a joint public declaration." He said they stopped short of calling on Kennedy to resign, "but given the circumstances, they didn't have to."

In a statement provided to The Defender, Andrew Nixon, communications director for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), accused the former surgeons general of contributing to public health challenges that Kennedy is now attempting to address.

"The same officials who presided over the decline in America's public health are now criticizing the first Secretary to confront it head-on. We remain committed to restoring trust, reforming broken health systems, and ensuring that every American has access to real choice in their health care," Nixon said.

Sayer Ji, chairman of the Global Wellness Forum and founder of GreenMedInfo, said the letter "offers no new data," but instead "conflates Kennedy's call for transparency and safety review with 'anti-science extremism,' while assigning him responsibility for events such as the CDC shooting or measles outbreaks without evidence."

"These are political claims, not public health findings," Ji said of the letter, the latest in a series of efforts to undermine Kennedy and his leadership of HHS.

These include articles of impeachment against Kennedy, filed last month by Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), and last month's U.S. Senate hearing, during which former CDC Director Susan Monarez testified after she was fired in August for "holding the line of scientific integrity."

The Washington Post published the op-ed just days after two psychiatric associations -- the Southern California Psychiatric Society and the newly established Committee to Protect Public Mental Health -- issued statements calling for Kennedy's ouster.

Ji said he believes the op-ed "fits squarely within that larger operation -- another phase in a coordinated effort to isolate, discredit and ultimately remove Kennedy through reputational and narrative warfare rather than legitimate policy debate."

Nebraska chiropractor Ben Tapper, listed by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) on its "Disinformation Dozen" list of the 12 "leading online anti-vaxxers" along with Kennedy in 2021, suggested that the former surgeons general are beholden to Big Pharma.

"What you are witnessing is not six surgeons general speaking the truth. It is six establishment voices protecting a $2 trillion health bureaucracy that is rotting from the inside. They cry 'unprecedented threat' not because Kennedy is wrong, but because he dares to expose the corruption they helped normalize," Tapper said.

Murthy previously praised Big Tech censorship policies

The former surgeons general took aim at several of Kennedy's statements and accused him of spreading "misinformation" that has cost lives:

"Kennedy has spent decades advancing dangerous and discredited claims about vaccines -- most notoriously, the thoroughly discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism. He has promoted misinformation about the HPV vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer, and he has repeatedly misrepresented the risks of mRNA technology and coronavirus vaccines, despite their lifesaving impact during the pandemic. …

"Rather than combating the rapid spread of health misinformation with facts and clarity, Kennedy is amplifying it. The consequences aren't abstract. They are measured in lives lost, disease outbreaks and an erosion of public trust that will take years to rebuild."

However, in CHD v. Trump -- formerly Kennedy et al. v. Biden et al. -- CHD alleges that Murthy, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other former government health officials, and government agencies, including the CDC, "waged a systematic, concerted campaign" to compel the nation's three largest social media companies to censor constitutionally protected speech.

Murthy is also a defendant in another lawsuit, Missouri et al. v. Biden et al., a 2022 lawsuit alleging the federal government violated the First Amendment free speech clause by suppressing speech on social media platforms.

After the U.S. Supreme Court last year refused to uphold injunctions issued by lower courts preventing members of the Biden administration and several federal agencies from communicating with social media platforms regarding user content, Missouri v. Biden was returned to a lower court, where it remains active.

Ji said Murthy has a history of supporting social media censorship:

"Congressional subpoenaed emails released by the House Judiciary Committee … show that, prior to Murthy's meeting with Facebook executives, company leaders discussed White House and surgeon general pressure to remove posts about vaccine injuries and deaths -- even when those posts were true. Facebook's leadership ultimately altered its moderation policies under that pressure.

"This record raises legitimate questions about whether the same officials who once worked to suppress accurate information are now being presented as arbiters of scientific integrity and acceptable debate."

Murthy previously praised Twitter's COVID-19 "misleading information" policy, which was introduced to curb the spread of "harmful misinformation" related to COVID-19 and which resulted in nearly 100,000 pieces of content being cut from the platform and more than 11,000 account suspensions. The policy ended in 2022.

In a 2021 advisory on "building a healthy information environment," Murthy cited Twitter's policy as a model for companies to fight misinformation.

Op-ed cites Pharma-funded medical organizations to target RFK Jr.

The former surgeons general also appeared to blame Kennedy for this year's measles outbreak in some U.S. states. They wrote:

"This year, as the United States faced its worst measles outbreak in more than 30 years, Kennedy de-emphasized vaccination and directed agency resources toward unproven vitamin therapies. The result: months-long outbreak, three preventable deaths and the first measles-related child death in the U.S. in over two decades."

Tapper hit back at that claim. "They talk about a resurgence of infectious diseases but ignore the explosion of chronic disease, autoimmune disorders, autism, cancer and obesity that has ballooned under their watch," he said.

The former surgeons general also criticized Kennedy's removal of the "scientific experts" previously on the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and their replacement with "individuals who often lacked basic qualifications, some of whom are vaccine conspiracy theorists."

And they called out Kennedy for suggesting that acetaminophen, contained in popular over-the-counter medications such as Tylenol, may be linked to autism if used during pregnancy. "This move has been widely condemned by the scientific and medical communities," they said.

To bolster their case, they pointed out that "leading health organizations," including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), have "issued public guidance urging physicians and patients to disregard HHS's recommendation."

In June, AAP and five other medical organizations sued Kennedy over recent changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women -- changes they claimed are "baseless and uninformed."

The AAP lists pharma giants Merck, Sanofi and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna among its donors and, last year, co-founded the "Vaccine Integrity Project," an initiative seeking to bypass public health authorities through the creation of "a nongovernmental vaccine system" for vaccine recommendations and purchasing.

The Vaccine Integrity Project is funded by iAlumbra, a nonprofit founded by Walmart heiress and billionaire philanthropist Christy Walton, known for her anti-Trump advocacy. The AAP and ACOG issued their own vaccine recommendations in partnership with the Vaccine Integrity Project, which some U.S. states have adopted.

'The real threat is public health and not Kennedy'

The former surgeons general attempted to strike a bipartisan tone in their op-ed, saying that despite "differences in perspectives," they "have always been united in an unwavering commitment to science and evidence-based public health."

Ji said the "bipartisan composition of the group does not imply neutrality." He said, "This cross-party unity is less about science than about defending an entrenched consensus that his policies threaten."'

Ji said the op-ed "represents a continuation of the coordinated communications campaign that began months ago to delegitimize Secretary Kennedy's reforms at HHS."

The campaign was outlined in a memo purportedly containing the minutes of an April meeting of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), a major pharmaceutical lobbying organization.

According to the document, BIO president and CEO John F. Crowley allegedly participated in the meeting and proposed a $2 million "creative communication campaign" involving legislators and influencers, with the aim of discrediting Kennedy.

Participants in the BIO meeting, including current employees and board members of vaccine manufacturers, also allegedly said, "It is time to go to The Hill and lobby that it is time for RFK Jr to go … communicate what's going on in business."

Several major pharma companies are listed as members of BIO. According to Open Secrets, 63 of BIO's 100 lobbyists in 2024 previously held government jobs, while BIO has spent $2.76 million on lobbying efforts this year.

A BIO spokesperson denied the authenticity of the document. The Defender was unable to independently authenticate the document or communicate directly with its source.

Ji said that in recent months, a series of congressional hearings, op-eds, open letters and impeachment efforts have followed, indicating a concerted effort targeting Kennedy. "The same language -- 'endangering lives,' 'rejecting science,' 'eroding trust' -- has appeared repeatedly" in those communications.

Ji said CCDH is also likely involved in efforts to oust Kennedy. He cited CCDH documents leaked by a whistleblower last year, which indicated that the organization planned "black ops" -- or a secret mission or campaign -- against Kennedy.

"This is not about protecting American citizens," Tapper said. "This is about protecting profits. Kennedy is standing up for truth, transparency and accountability. The real threat is public health and not Kennedy."