HHS overturns 54-year-old public comment rule

from Healthcare Brew

The new US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rescinded on Monday a long-standing public comment practice at the nation’s largest public health agency—shortly after promising a “new era of radical transparency” last month.

In a policy statement on Feb. 28, Kennedy said the “extra-statutory” public comments “impose costs on the department and the public, are contrary to the efficient operation of the department, and impede the department’s flexibility to adapt quickly to legal and policy mandates.”

Since the move effectively limits citizens from sharing their opinions with the agency, experts have shared concerns that removing these opportunities for public commentary could impede the agency’s ability to operate in the public’s interest.

Lawrence Gostin, a law professor and chair of global health law at Georgetown University, posted on X that the move allows the HHS to “operate in secret” and “ignore the views of key stakeholders.”...

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Trump Orders CDC, FDA, and Other Health Agencies to Go Dark

(First thing RFK Jr. does is instruct the CDC, FDA and the entire HHS to stop responding to the public at all. Total information blackout from Mr. Truth Kennedy. That's a good sign, right? at the same time they are pushing a 500 billion dollar plan to push AI mRNA 'vaccines' on us for the cancer their last 'vaccine' is causing. That's just great. H/T T)

from Gizmodo

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is going dark, along with other federal agencies within the umbrella of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This week, the returning Trump administration told these agencies to stop talking to the public—for how long, no one knows.

The Washington Post first broke news of Trump’s sweeping directive late Tuesday evening. Staff at these agencies have been reportedly ordered to cease external communication for the time being. The move is the latest to unnerve outside experts about the direction of the country’s public health infrastructure under Trump.

The order was delivered by Stefanie Spear, a newly hired deputy chief of staff at HHS, according to the Post. Spear was the press secretary for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during his 2024 presidential campaign, who has since been nominated by Trump to lead HHS. Affected staff told the Post that the directive lacked specific details, including the reasoning behind it, how long the pause is expected to last, and whether there are any exceptions allowed.

Gizmodo reached out to the HHS for comment but did not hear back by the time of publication...

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