RFK Jr. to oust advisory panel on cancer screenings, report says

Jessica Nix and Rachel Cohrs Zhang, Bloomberg News on Jul 25, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to oust members of the advisory board that decides which preventive health measures are covered by insurance, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Kennedy is expected to remove the 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force because he views them as “woke,” the Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The task force makes recommendations about the best preventive services including cancer screenings, behavioral counseling and medications for the federal government based on a review of scientific evidence. The group was created in 1984 and is composed of volunteer physicians who are vetted for their conflicts of interest.

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act granted the panel the ability to determine which screenings should be covered by insurance companies.

“No final decision has been made on how the USPSTF can better support HHS’ mandate to Make America Healthy Again,” Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for HHS, said in a statement to Bloomberg News.

Earlier this month, the Secretary’s office abruptly canceled a meeting of the task force. The group was set to discuss steps to prevent cardiovascular disease including healthy diet and physical activity, according to reporting from Axios.

A conservative media site urged Kennedy on July 9 to end the panel entirely, alleging it has “used that authority to launder left-wing ideological orthodoxy into its preventive care recommendations.”

This would not be the first quick dismissal from Kennedy. In June, he fired the 17-member panel on immunization practices under the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He later replaced the committee with people critical of vaccines.

_____