AI is ‘better informed’ than doctors, US health secretary Kennedy says
Sheryl Gay Stolberg
asserted
Kennedy → inform → doctors
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has frequently advised Americans not to trust medical experts, said this week that artificial intelligence could offer patients “a second opinion that is much better informed than any doctor in the country” and had the power to “free us from medical tyranny”.
uncertain
that → advise → tyranny
Kennedy made the comments on Sept 29 during a “fireside chat” with Vice-President J.D. Vance at a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) conference sponsored by companies that have business before his department, as well as AI companies, such as Anthropic and OpenAI.
asserted
that → make → Anthropic
Kennedy said OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman told him during a recent visit to his office that it would be “malpractice for a doctor to make a diagnosis or to make a prescription without at least checking AI”.
asserted
doctor → say → AI
Kennedy apparently agreed.
asserted
Kennedy → agree → ?
The health secretary’s wholehearted endorsement of AI comes as the Trump administration is facing mounting pressure to do more to regulate the technology.
asserted
administration → come → technology
Kennedy’s own department has faced some criticism for moving too rapidly to fund AI projects in healthcare.
asserted
department → face → healthcare
“One of the things that is going to change is that we’re never ever again going to be able to be dominated by public officials who tell us, ‘Trust the experts,’” Kennedy said during the Sept 29 session.
asserted
Kennedy → go → session
“If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ AI may tell you otherwise,” he added.
uncertain
he → tell → you
“If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ AI may correct that.
uncertain
AI → tell → that
And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection, or you need to take it to protect your grandmother, AI may say it actually doesn’t do that.”
When it was finally Vance’s turn to speak, he cracked a joke: “I guess I’m in the wrong summit.
uncertain
I → tell → summit
I thought this was about weight loss and acid, not AI.”
asserted
this → think → loss
The MAHA Summit, at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, did indeed address other topics, including some of Kennedy’s core issues: the promise of psychedelic drugs, healthy eating and chronic disease prevention.
asserted
Summit → address → drugs
Kennedy and other administration officials were not involved in planning the conference; they were invited speakers.
asserted
they → involve → conference
But so many appeared – including Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins; Lee Zeldin, who heads the Environmental Protection Agency; and Mehmet Oz, who runs Medicare and Medicaid – that at times it looked like a corporate advertisement with a government imprimatur.
asserted
it → appear → imprimatur
The conference’s tilt towards business, and its sponsorship by companies such as Walmart and Grail, which has an application for a cancer screening blood test pending before the Food and Drug Administration, generated a backlash from some longtime Kennedy supporters.
asserted
which → have → supporters
“It’s all a grift,” said Dr Robert Malone, a critic of mRNA Covid-19 vaccines.
asserted
Malone → ’ → vaccines
Malone served briefly as vice-chair of a vaccine advisory committee appointed by Kennedy, but resigned in March after a judge ruled that he and other committee members lacked essential qualifications.
asserted
he → serve → qualifications
“Why were none of the founding women of the movement involved?” asked Alex Clark, a podcaster with the conservative group Turning Point USA, referring to the so-called MAHA Moms.
asserted
Clark → found → Moms
One of them, Vani Hari, who calls herself “the Food Babe” and has worked closely with Kennedy, attended as a guest but was not on the programme.
asserted
who → call → programme
Stefanie Spear, Kennedy’s closest adviser, moderated a session that included Jonathan Neman, a founder of the salad chain Sweetgreen, who marvelled at how Kennedy has changed the conversation around food.
asserted
Kennedy → moderate → food
Neman said that in 2015, his company briefly promoted an initiative it called Make America Healthy Again.
asserted
it → say → initiative
Coming just five weeks before the midterm elections, the conference shed light on how the MAHA movement has fractured since 2024, when it rallied behind Kennedy and helped power US President Donald Trump’s election victory.
asserted
it → come → victory
In effect, there are now two MAHAs: corporate, Trump-aligned MAHA, including the conference organisers, and grassroots unaffiliated MAHA, which Democrats are now trying to court.
asserted
Democrats → be → which
In Michigan on Sept 29, Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate for Senate, announced a Build a Healthier America agenda.
asserted
Sayed → announce → agenda
“Any MAHA anything that is brought to you by Walmart Corporation and the health insurance companies tells you everything you need to know,” El-Sayed, a former public health official in Detroit, said in an interview Monday night.
asserted
Sayed → bring → interview
El-Sayed’s agenda includes plans to address many of the issues that have galvanized MAHA followers: getting toxic substances out of foods, clean water, improving the health of school meals and eliminating pesticides from farming.
asserted
that → include → farming
But he said he did not support Kennedy’s push to discourage childhood vaccination.
asserted
he → say → vaccination
So was Dr Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health, who has been tangling with the White House over its plan to assert political control over his agency’s grant-making decisions.
asserted
who → tangle → decisions
Bhattacharya, who was initially scheduled to moderate a panel discussion, disappeared from the final agenda.
asserted
who → schedule → agenda
A spokesperson would not say why.
asserted
spokesperson → say → ?
Journalists were excluded from the conference for the most part, although it was streamed online.
asserted
it → exclude → part
Major news outlets that applied for press credentials, including The New York Times, were denied them.
asserted
that → apply → them
In an e-mail, conference organisers said they had “limited space”.
asserted
they → say → space
“I cannot understand why the MAHA Summit denied so many press credentials, especially with so many US govt officials on stage,” Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder of an influential newsletter, Food Fix, wrote on the social platform X.
asserted
Evich → understand → platform
She added that while she was granted credentials, “the press area was largely empty and our movement was restricted so I left”.
asserted
I → add → credentials
Reporters and conference guests instead mingled in the grand lobby and restaurant of the hotel, which Trump owned from 2012 to 2022.
asserted
Trump → mingle → 2022
Among those spotted there was entrepreneur Mark Cuban, whose company Cost Plus Drugs teamed up with Trump on TrumpRx, the president’s plan to reduce the cost of drugs.
asserted
company → spot → drugs
Cuban, dressed in a teal T-shirt and dining alone, said he had no idea the MAHA Summit was taking place and had no interest in attending.
asserted
Summit → dress → interest
Kennedy’s supporters, including Tony Lyons, who oversees a constellation of MAHA-themed non-profits, including the organiser of the conference, defended the secretary.
asserted
who → include → secretary
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
