For decades, the pharmaceutical industry has shaped nearly every corner of U.S. healthcare. Now, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leading the Health and Human Services, could this be the moment he begins to break Big Pharma’s grip?
HHS Secretary Kennedy Jr., widely known as an environmental attorney and a passionate advocate for public health, has now stepped into one of the most influential roles in our nation’s healthcare system: Secretary of Health and Human Services.
His appointment is significant because he is not a career bureaucrat. He is someone who has spent years challenging powerful industries on behalf of ordinary people.
We should all be celebrating RFK Jr’s appointment for one simple reason. He understands that no segment of our society has been more corrupted by a single industry than healthcare.
Pharmaceutical companies have become so rich and so powerful that they influence and often control most of what we call healthcare. He is also deeply aware of the various ways major food corporations quietly exert control over and thus manipulate public health policy.
What makes his appointment so important is his clear vision. Federal health agencies must serve the needs of the American public and not the interests of Big Pharma or Big Food. If he follows through, this shift could begin to restore trust in the very institutions that are meant to safeguard our health and well-being.
Healthcare Is Nonpartisan
First, let’s be clear about one thing. Healthcare is a nonpartisan issue.
Cancer, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, and other diseases don’t care if you are a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent. Obesity doesn’t ask who you voted for.
So let’s move past the attempts to frame healthcare through a partisan lens. When decisions are made based on political agendas rather than genuine concern for people’s well-being, we all lose.
Humility Is Needed
The second point to remember is that the science of the human body, what causes disease and what it takes to recover, is still in its infancy.
As I gained more experience and insight, I often shared an illustration with doctors I met:
“I’ve come to believe that if all the knowledge necessary to understand what causes disease and what it takes to recover from various diseases is represented by a gallon of water, what we really understand so far is about one cup!”
The consistent response, from both natural medicine practitioners and conventional physicians, was nearly the same:
“Yes. The more I read and learn, the more I realize how little we truly understand.”
We are only beginning to grasp the complexities of this extraordinary system we call the human body. Medicine has just started to scratch the surface of how emerging fields, like quantum physics, may reshape our understanding of diagnosis and treatment.
Our research scientists could benefit from a measure of humility. Too often, discoveries are declared with certainty while the vast unknowns remain unspoken.
This is especially true in the study of dynamic systems such as the human organism, where what we don’t yet know is far greater than what we do.
Limits of the Pharmaceutical Approach to Health and Wellness
The dominance and control exerted by drug companies might be understandable if they were highly effective in serving the American public.
The reality is, they are not.
Despite their influence, the pharmaceutical industry and modern medicine still know neither the true cause nor the lasting cure for the vast array of chronic and autoimmune conditions that burden so many lives.
And yet, these same companies dictate almost every aspect of how those diseases are treated. When I share this honest assessment of modern medicine’s limitations, many people struggle to believe it at first.
I often see the blank stare that silently asks, “How could that be possible?”
But the evidence speaks for itself:
- If you are suffering from an illness and are told you will need treatment for the rest of your life, that treatment is not a cure.
- If your diagnosis feels uncertain and if you hear, “Well, we think it’s this disease, but it might be a different one. Let’s try this drug, and if it doesn’t work, we’ll try another option.” that means the root cause is still unknown and they do not know the solution of your disease.
If your own research reveals statements such as, “We believe this disease is associated with X, but the exact cause is unknown. Here’s how we manage and treat your condition,” then a cure is clearly not in sight, they do not have any idea what the cure is!
So we must ask ourselves a difficult question: why would we entrust our health to an industry that cannot explain what causes so many of our conditions and offers no true cure?
Yet that is exactly the position we have given pharmaceutical companies in modern healthcare.
How It All Began
The power and influence of drug companies over our healthcare system can be traced back to the discovery of antibiotics and their remarkable ability to cure bacterial infections.
Antibiotics effectively cured infections that collectively held life expectancy to under 60 years of age. The public believed and assumed while the industry eagerly assured us—that more “magic pills” were just around the corner. But those promises never fully materialized.
There is a profound difference between curing acute infectious diseases and curing chronic or autoimmune conditions, as many of us have experienced firsthand.
Antibiotics offered dramatic victories against illnesses like syphilis, pneumonia, and meningitis. Chronic disease, however, has proven to be a much more complex challenge.
Still, pharmaceutical companies saw an opportunity. They imagined a future where every medical condition might be solved with a magic pill, and they recognized the enormous profits such an approach could bring.
The result, almost 100 years after penicillin was first used to cure syphilis, pneumonia, meningitis, and other bacterial infections, is that the pharmaceutical companies control almost all aspects of our healthcare system.
Drug Companies Extend Influence and Control
The reach of pharmaceutical companies, fueled by their immense wealth, goes far beyond selling medications. Their influence extends into medical school curricula, shaping what future doctors are taught.
It also affects medical journals, determining what research is published and what is quietly set aside. Their power reaches federal and state governments through massive political contributions.
On top of this, we are inundated with pharmaceutical advertising across nearly every form of media. Even the authoritative “standards of care” for various illnesses, which guide the choices your doctor makes, are heavily dictated by these companies.
This might be acceptable if those standards consistently led to cures. Unfortunately, when it comes to chronic and autoimmune diseases, they do not.
The Opioid Crisis: An Example of Pharmaceutical Abuse
One of the most well-known examples of how the healthcare system has been abused by pharmaceutical companies is the opioid crisis. A “new class” of opioids was marketed as non-addictive, unlike all others that came before. To reinforce this claim, fraudulent studies were published to give the illusion of scientific backing.
Around the same time, modern medicine introduced the concept of pain as the “fifth vital sign,” alongside heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and respiratory rate. A dear friend of mine, a midwife at a local hospital, once told me she was not even allowed to see a patient without first asking about their level of pain.
Patients were prescribed these new opioids for everything from serious conditions to minor aches. The heartbreaking result is that countless individuals became dependent, their lives profoundly altered by the powerful grip of these drugs.
Fraud Settlements: Normal Course of Business for Drug Companies
It took years for the truth to emerge and for the worst offenders to be arrested and held accountable. Yet even then, little changed in terms of the power and influence pharmaceutical companies hold. Purdue Pharma and its owners eventually paid a $7.4 billion settlement.
This is not unusual in the drug industry. Since 2010, pharmaceutical companies have paid more than $80 billion in fines and penalties for fraud and deceptive marketing practices.
It all causes me to ask one simple question: if the pharmaceutical approach to health and wellness is so effective that we entrust them with our care, why must they rely on fraud and deception to sell their products?
Modern Doctors Trained in Pharmacology
There are many red flags that point to the urgent need for change. One of the most obvious is this: why are medical doctors trained almost exclusively in pharmacology?
The medical profession attracts some of our brightest and most capable citizens, most of whom are deeply motivated by a desire to serve others.
Yet instead of being educated in the body’s natural mechanisms of repair and recovery, they are trained in the use of pharmaceuticals. And only pharmaceuticals.
These brilliant men and women could just as easily learn about herbal medicine, or how to identify imbalances in the gut flora, the microbiome, which research increasingly shows plays a central role in many chronic illnesses.
They could also be exposed to functional medicine approaches that emphasize prevention and whole-body healing.
Treatments That Last a Lifetime
A doctor’s visit for any chronic or autoimmune disease often ends with a prescription, almost always for a pharmaceutical drug. The expectation is that you will remain on that medication for the rest of your life. What a great business plan…at least for the pharmaceutical company!
I have a dear friend with kidney issues who is currently taking 13 different medications every day.
This is not unusual. Drug companies spend enormous amounts of time and money convincing doctors, both young and experienced, that pharmaceuticals are the only appropriate treatments.
Their reach extends deep into medical education, beginning in medical school and continuing long after graduation.
A local surgeon and racquetball partner once admitted to me that 95 percent of the education he received after completing medical school came directly from pharmaceutical companies.
Another Red Flag: The Health of Our Children
Just look at the health of our children today. Allergies, asthma, autism, obesity, and other chronic conditions are affecting kids at alarming rates.
This was not the case in previous generations. RFK Jr. has voiced his deep concern about this situation and has called for serious changes. Based on what we see with our own eyes, how can anyone dismiss the problem?
Don’t we all want to know why otherwise healthy toddlers are suddenly allergic to common foods? Fifty years ago, this was rare. Yet now, our children and grandchildren are reacting to peanut butter, eggs, milk, grains, and more. It is deeply troubling, and it deserves honest answers.
Public Health Agencies Owe Us Answers
Perhaps the problem is too much sugar in the diet. Perhaps it is the growing number of chemicals in our food chain. Or perhaps it is a combination of many factors working together.
What is clear is that it is time for answers. We must demand a public health approach that truly serves the people, rather than catering to the preferences of Big Pharma and Big Food.
Our tax dollars should be directed toward understanding chronic illness and uncovering its root causes. This is exactly what RFK Jr. recognizes, and it is the kind of change he is determined to bring.
The Scary Part
Perhaps the most concerning reality and also the reason to be hopeful about RFK Jr.’s appointment is that drug companies extend their influence deep into our most trusted public health agencies.
If the public truly understood how many former pharmaceutical executives are hired to run key departments within the FDA, NIH, and CDC, and how often they later return to industry after their tenure, they would naturally ask a simple question: isn’t that a conflict of interest?
The answer is yes. It is what many call the “revolving door” between HHS and industry. So, please do not doubt me when I beg you to understand why we must break the stranglehold the drug companies have on our public health agencies.
Failure Should Lead to Change
It is time to hold modern medicine accountable. Everyone in the healthcare space acknowledges that chronic and autoimmune disease care is a major driver of our nation’s soaring healthcare costs.
Yet no pharmaceutical interventions have been shown to cure these conditions. This raises another important question: why are these people still in charge of treating chronic and autoimmune disease?
Drug companies have a role to play in trauma care and infectious disease, but the time has come to entrust chronic illness to natural medicine practitioners.
Natural Medicine Offers Potential Answers
Proponents of natural medicine are right to emphasize that their treatments, which focus on supporting the body’s innate ability to repair, recover, and adaptation, have a far stronger record of curing chronic illnesses.
I have been blessed to personally witness the healing power of natural medicine. Many of my doctor friends allowed me to speak with their patients, and I always asked how they found their way to that particular practice.
Almost every story followed the same path: years of pharmaceutical interventions, mounting frustration, and no real progress—until they discovered natural medicine.
Time and again, I heard the same phrase: “No one helped me until I found the Doctor who cares for me now.”
The challenge is that natural medicine products and protocols cannot be patented, which means the profit motive is minimal and the pharmaceutical industry has little interest.
And thus, this is precisely where our public health agencies—the NIH, FDA, and CDC—should focus research and resources.
We need answers to urgent questions:
- Why are children becoming overweight at such a young age?
- Why are seniors taking 6, 8, even 10 medications a day with no path to true healing?
Vaccines
This article is about why we all need to support RFK Jr.’s efforts, and not once have I mentioned vaccines. Still, there are good reasons to examine every aspect of public health, including vaccine usage.
I recently finished Unavoidably Unsafe, written by two medical doctors who set out to give parents an honest, science-based guide to childhood vaccines. I’ll be doing a review of the book soon.
The title comes from the pharmaceutical industry’s own language, used when lobbying the government for immunity from prosecution for expected adverse events linked to vaccines.
Having accomplished their goal of protection from lawsuits, you would think it would be hard to argue that every vaccine is safe and effective for every child, but that is what the drug companies would like you to believe.
The Drug Companies Fear HHS Secretary Kennedy
Give RFK Jr. a chance. Listen to what he says, not sound bites, but rather the concepts and ideas he wants public health to prioritize. There are good reasons to question all aspects of our public health system.
Take the time to read and explore the ideas behind the Health Freedom Movement. Learn about MAHA moms and their fight to get toxins out of the food supply.
They are right, I can assure you they are spot on, and it’s not just about their children but your children as well.
I can guarantee you that most of the negative coverage and outrage you hear about Kennedy’s stances are being generated by the same companies that are constantly on our televisions telling us how wonderful their drugs are.
Please choose wisely.
