Summary
Over 15,000 doctors, through the Committee to Protect Health Care, urged the Senate to reject Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services, citing his anti-vaccine advocacy, promotion of conspiracy theories, and lack of qualifications.
Critics, including Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, warn his leadership would endanger public health. Supporters claim opposition is driven by pharmaceutical interests.
Kennedy’s confirmation would require near-unanimous Republican support in the Senate.
Advocacy groups are campaigning against his appointment, emphasizing his alleged role in spreading misinformation during past public health crises.
Quick question. Honest question. How many doctors are there in the USA? I feel like this headline could have been more impactful if it gave an idea of what percentage of the medical field feels this way. 15,000 doctors, across all 50 states…maybe I’m wrong, this is just a gut feeling based on nothing, but that seems low. Feels like some of the bigger states could have 15,000 doctors by themselves.
I’m not in any way defending RFK. I’m just saying this particular story seems like a non-story at those numbers.
Yeah, there’s about a million, so this is ~1.5%
As a person who’s organized petitions for widely felt issues, the impact isn’t strictly from a raw percentage of participation (though it’s a significant factor when that number is large). The impact comes from the number of people involved. Of the roughly 1 million doctors in the country, 1% were so against the concept that they chose to take direct action.
If that many people were moved to action, how many are against it but not ready or willing to fight? How many felt it wouldn’t matter if they signed? How many more didn’t hear about it?
