Providence, Ri – A letter presented to the United States Senate that establishes that it was sent by doctors in support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. nomination As the Secretary of Health and Human Services includes the names of doctors who have revoked, suspended or faced another discipline, according to Associated Press.
The letter was destined to provide credibility to the Kennedy nomination, which has faced the strenuous opposition of medical experts due to its Two decades of vaccine activism. Sen. republican Bill Cassidy of LouisianaA doctor who boasts on his official website of an effort he created to vaccinate 36,000 children against hepatitis B, expressed doubts about Kennedy’s nomination and is seen as a key vote.
The AP discovered that, in addition to doctors who had faced disciplinary action, many of the almost 800 signatories are not doctors. The letter with the names of those who signed was provided to the AP by Senator Ron Johnson after entering it into the history of Congress on Wednesday during the first of the two Kennedy confirmation hearings.
Among those who signed him were a self -described journalist, a certified public accountant, a firefighter/paramedic, a certified health coach and someone who said he had a degree “with emphasis on Jungian psychology.” The signatories include at least 75 nurses, as well as medical assistants. More than 90 did not include any credential.
More than 20 were chiropractic, which represent an industry that has financed Kennedy’s work. A AP research found that donations from a chiropractic group represented a sixth part of the income collected by The non -profit organization of Kennedy In 2019.
The letter was organized and presented by Maha Action, directed by Del Bigree, who worked for the Kennedy presidential campaign and is an anti -vacino activist for a long time. He Washington Post reported Wednesday that Kennedy transferred the registered trademark for the slogan “Maha” to a limited liability company directed by Bigree. Kennedy reported that he received $ 100,000 in income of the slogan license and said in his financial revelations that he had transferred the registered trademark for “without compensation. “
Maha means “Make America Healthy Again”, a play on “Make America Again Again” by President Donald Trump.
Emma Post, a maha action spokeswoman, said in an email that the letter was “shared and organically circulated as a base with explicit instructions that it was for doctors to only sign.” She did not address the AP questions about what later steps the group took to verify the credentials, if any.
Bigree and Kennedy did not return messages in search of comments. A White House spokesman Kush Desai said that the administration looks forward to the rapid confirmation of Kennedy’s Senate.
The letter includes the header ” Dr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “And it begins with the words:” We, the subsign doctors. “He says below that” reflects the collective voice of doctors and medical professionals “committed to addressing chronic diseases.
The AP review found that at least 10 doctors who signed the letter had encountered problems with state medical boards or their Board certification agency for a variety of alleged misconduct. The sanctions they faced included their license revoked or suspended, being placed on probation, receiving a reprimand or other action. One received a Warning letter of the Federal Commerce CommissionThat he said he was illegally announcing products such as treatments or prevention for COVID-19, including intravenous nutrient therapy and vitamins.
Among the signatories was Paul Thomas, an anti -cacuna doctor who voluntarily delivered his medical license In 2022, after the Oregon Medical Board discovered that it had been involved in repeated and serious negligence in the practice of medicine.
Thomas did not admit or denied the finding. NBC news reported That Thomas was part of a team gathered by Kennedy, who remotely advised an anti -cacuna activist in Samoa during a measles outbreak on how to treat children with vitamins. A person who responded in the name of Thomas, Deedee Hoover, said that AP’s information was inaccurate but did not respond when asked what was wrong.
Other signatories included Dr. Simone Gold, who was Reprimanded by the California Medical Board After she declared himself guilty of a minor crime for His conduct in the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump was recently forgiven Gold and told the AP in an email that his reprimand and other disciplinary actions were revoked by a judge before his forgiveness.
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is an honorable and honest person with a vast knowledge and experience of the subject that values the health of the American people, and also because they are willing to challenge corporate interests where they conflict with the best interests of those those interests of those Citizens, “Gold wrote in an email.
Meryl Nass, whose doctor The license was suspended in Maine About her Treatment of patients with COVID-19, also signed. She told the AP that the decision is appealing and hopes to be completely claimed.
At least two of the doctors were disciplined, before the pandemic, to incorrectly give vaccine exemptions, including one that had revoked his license And another that was probate. Another medical license was revoked for Refuse to follow Covid-19 guidelines.
Post said that Maha Action’s letter was just one of several proportionate to the Senate that supported Kennedy, including one that provided a link to what he said was signed by “17,000 medical professionals.” That letter declared that it was from international medical suppliers and did not include the names of those who signed.
The opponents of Kennedy’s nomination sent their own letter with signatures of what they said were more than 18,000 doctors “examined and verified.” The group, the committee to protect medical care, said the letter was initially distributed among verified doctors and that as additional signatures were added, their credentials were verified. The group provided the list of signatories to the AP, but with anonymous names that included the first initial of their first name along with the first three letters of their last name, as well as its medical credentials. They said that the names of the doctors were anonymized for their privacy and to protect them from harassment.
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Contact the Global AP research team at investigator@ap.org or https://www.ap.org/tips/
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