Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. just axed the two vice chairs of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force — the powerful federal panel that decides which screenings your doctor recommends and your insurance pays for — and the public health establishment is in full meltdown mode.
Oh no, not the unelected bureaucrats who've been running on autopilot for two decades. Whatever will we do.
Dr. John Wong, a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, and Dr. Esa Davis, a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, both received termination letters dated May 11 informing them they were done, effective immediately. The letters stated the action was taken "to avoid uncertainty that could jeopardize the validity of future task force actions." HHS also noted it was "not to be understood as a removal based on your leadership or contributions" — which is Washington-speak for "it's not personal, we just don't want you here anymore."
The USPSTF is no small-time advisory board. This is the panel whose recommendations determine whether Americans get screening mammograms, colonoscopies, depression screenings, and lung cancer screenings without paying a dime out of pocket. As Dr. Alex Krist, a former chair of the task force, put it: "Every primary care clinician probably uses the task force recommendations 100-plus times a day."
So yeah, it matters. Which is exactly why Kennedy is gutting it.
The task force currently has 8 vacant seats out of a potential 16 — that's half the panel sitting empty. According to Aaron Carroll, head of the nonprofit AcademyHealth, the reaction has been one of "real disappointment and concern." Carroll also pointed out the obvious: "Anyone who gets a screening mammogram, a screening colonoscopy, depression screening, lung cancer screening and more without having to pay anything out of pocket, it's because of the USPSTF."
Here's the thing the pearl-clutchers won't tell you: the task force hasn't even convened in over a year. A year. The panel that supposedly guides every doctor in America on preventive care couldn't be bothered to hold a meeting. And we're supposed to be outraged that Kennedy is shaking things up?
Kennedy himself told Congress exactly what he's doing and why. "That committee has been lackadaisical and negligent for 20 years," he said during congressional testimony. "We're now bringing new members on who have a clear mission." HHS is currently soliciting applications from a wide array of specialists, and even invited the fired panel chiefs to reapply if they want back in. New members are expected to start serving in July.
Krist, the former chair, warned that "this is going to hurt people's health." With all due respect, Doc — the panel that hasn't met in a year and has been coasting on two decades of inertia wasn't exactly a beacon of urgent public health action.
This is the MAHA agenda in action. Kennedy already remade the federal vaccine advisory panel, and now he's coming for the screening recommendations too. The public health cartel that's operated without accountability since before most of us had smartphones is finally getting a performance review.
About time someone checked whether the people telling your doctor what to do actually showed up to work, as reported by Patriot News Alerts and confirmed by STAT and NPR.