RFK Jr. has dismantled 75 federal health advisory boards
Since taking over the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has eliminated 75 expert advisory panels — more than a quarter of the agency's total — gutting the scientific infrastructure that underpins drug approvals, vaccine policy, and public health guidance. In a separate move, the FDA has backed away from tighter tanning bed regulations despite warnings from medical groups about skin cancer risks. The advisory board purge leaves federal health agencies making major decisions without the independent scientific oversight that has been standard practice for decades.
Federal advisory committees at HHS have served as a cornerstone of evidence-based policymaking since the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972, which was itself passed to formalize and make transparent the outside expert input agencies rely on. These panels — composed of physicians, researchers, biostatisticians, and…
