Here, we explain the facts behind several more of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims during his two Senate hearings as nominee for Health and Human Services secretary.
FactChecking RFK Jr.’s Other Health Claims During HHS Confirmation Hearings
Issues: health care
Trump Order Didn’t Reverse All of Biden’s Measures to Lower Drug Costs
President Donald Trump rescinded an executive order issued by former President Joe Biden aimed at finding new models for lowering drug costs. Trump’s action didn’t affect the caps on seniors’ drug costs or Medicare price negotiations that Biden signed into law. But social media posts have wrongly claimed otherwise.
Trump Distorts New Regulation Extending ‘Obamacare’ to DACA Recipients
A new Biden administration rule will make recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals eligible to obtain health insurance plans established by the Affordable Care Act. But former President Donald Trump has mischaracterized the regulation, claiming that it is “giving Obamacare and all free government health care to illegal aliens.”
Partisans Distort Proposed MOMS Act and Website for Pregnancy Resources
Republican Sen. Katie Britt has introduced a bill that would create a government website to help connect pregnant people with resources, excluding abortion services. Some Democrats and partisan websites have misleadingly claimed the proposed law would create a federal database of pregnant people. The bill doesn’t require users to provide any personal information.
FactChecking Biden’s State of the Union
His speech included misleading claims on inflation, crime, clean energy investments, wages and other subjects.
TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates
Breast cancer in younger women has been increasing gradually in recent decades. But a social media post misrepresents case number projections for 2022 and 2023 to falsely claim they show a dramatic rise in early-onset breast cancer — and then baselessly ties its faulty comparisons to COVID-19 vaccines.
Ventilators Save Lives, Did Not Cause ‘Nearly All’ COVID-19 Deaths
Ventilators can be lifesaving for critically ill COVID-19 patients. A social media claim that a new study shows ventilators killed “nearly all” COVID-19 patients is “quite wrong,” according to the study’s co-author. Ventilator-associated complications can contribute to deaths, but patients are typically put on ventilators when they would otherwise die.
mRNA Vaccines Protect Against COVID-19 Mortality, Contrary to Misleading Posts
Numerous studies have shown the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing severe disease and death from COVID-19. But some social media posts are citing a criticized study that focuses on overall mortality to falsely imply the vaccines are harmful and don’t work.
Q&A on the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
May 11 will mark the end of the federal public health emergency for COVID-19, bringing changes to health care and public benefits.
Online Claims Misrepresent Washington Bill Aimed at Runaway Transgender Youth
Q: Does a proposed law in Washington state say that the government can take children away from parents who don’t agree to gender transition surgery?
A: No. Under the bill, licensed youth shelters no longer have to report the location of a runaway child to the child’s parents if the child is seeking gender-affirming or reproductive care. Instead, the shelters must notify the state’s child services department.