RFK Jr. names 8 new members to influential preventive medicine task force

小罗伯特·肯尼迪任命8名新成员加入具有影响力的预防医学工作组

Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced the names of eight new members of a 16-person federal task force intended to make scientifically independent, evidence-based recommendations on an array of preventive medicine services for Americans—from depression screening to statin use, colonoscopies, and mammograms. 反疫苗立场的卫生部长小罗伯特·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）宣布了联邦工作组的八名新成员名单。该工作组由16人组成，旨在就一系列面向美国人的预防医学服务（从抑郁症筛查到他汀类药物使用、结肠镜检查和乳房X光检查）提供科学独立、基于证据的建议。

Recommendations from the panel—the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)—don’t simply provide guidance for Americans; they also determine access. The USPSTF is supposed to use a rigorous, transparent framework for evaluating evidence and sets graded recommendations on an A to D scale. Health insurance providers are required to cover, at no cost, all preventive services that are given recommendations of an A or B grade. 该小组——美国预防服务工作组（USPSTF）——的建议不仅为美国人提供指导，还决定了医疗服务的可及性。USPSTF理应使用严谨、透明的框架来评估证据，并设定从A到D等级的建议。医疗保险提供商必须免费承保所有获得A级或B级建议的预防服务。

Kennedy has sidelined the USPSTF for more than a year, canceling its meetings and refusing to appoint new members as terms expired and members left. In May, Kennedy also fired two leaders, sparking outcry and exacerbating fears that he would corrupt the nonpartisan independent panel by stacking it with unqualified ideological allies—which he did with an influence vaccine advisory committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 肯尼迪已将USPSTF搁置了一年多，取消了其会议，并在成员任期届满离职时拒绝任命新成员。今年5月，肯尼迪还解雇了两名领导人，引发了强烈抗议，并加剧了人们的担忧：他可能会通过安插不合格的意识形态盟友来腐蚀这个无党派独立小组——他此前在疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）的一个疫苗咨询委员会中就曾这样做过。

Those fears seemed to be realized today with the announcement of members who are largely out of line with previous appointments. Many of the new members have expressed a shared ideology with Kennedy and the Trump administration. At least one voiced criticism of COVID-19 vaccines. At least two have attacked gender-affirming care. One is not even a doctor but a health economist who has worked with the Trump administration. 随着今天新成员名单的公布，这些担忧似乎已成为现实，因为这些成员大多与此前的任命标准不符。许多新成员表达了与肯尼迪和特朗普政府相同的意识形态。至少有一人曾批评过新冠疫苗。至少有两人曾抨击过性别肯定护理。其中一人甚至不是医生，而是一位曾与特朗普政府共事的卫生经济学家。

“A significant departure” “重大的背离”

Five of the eight members are specialists, including cardiologists, a gastroenterologist, and a radiologist; the USPSTF has previously been made up of people who provide preventive care—generalist and primary care providers. This prevents specialists from swaying recommendations based on conflicts of interest. Notably, the USPSTF’s policy on conflict of interest disclosures has been removed, and the webpage that previously included it said the policy is now being updated. 八名成员中有五名是专科医生，包括心脏病专家、胃肠病学家和放射科医生；而USPSTF此前一直由提供预防性护理的人员组成，即全科医生和初级保健提供者。这旨在防止专科医生因利益冲突而左右建议。值得注意的是，USPSTF关于利益冲突披露的政策已被移除，此前包含该政策的网页显示，相关政策目前正在更新中。

In a statement Thursday, Willie Underwood, president of the American Medical Association, called Kennedy’s new slate of members “a significant departure from the Task Force’s traditional membership.” USPSTF’s “credibility has been built on a membership grounded in prevention and primary care—the physicians who routinely deliver preventive services and understand how recommendations translate into clinical practice,” Underwood said. “We believe maintaining a strong primary care voice must remain central to its work.” 美国医学会主席威利·安德伍德（Willie Underwood）在周四的一份声明中称，肯尼迪任命的新成员名单是“对工作组传统成员构成的一次重大背离”。安德伍德表示，USPSTF的“信誉建立在以预防和初级保健为基础的成员构成之上——即那些经常提供预防服务并了解建议如何转化为临床实践的医生。我们认为，保持强大的初级保健声音必须始终是其工作的核心。”

He added that as this new panel gets to work, its recommendations must also “continue to be based on a transparent, rigorous, independent scientific process.” That transparency is already in question. The New York Times noted that the nomination and selection process for new USPSTF members is supposed to be transparent and available to the public, but they have not been made available. Times reporters said they have repeatedly requested the materials on the nominees, including an in-person request and a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The Times filed a lawsuit for them in August. They still have not received the materials. 他补充说，随着这个新小组开始工作，其建议也必须“继续基于透明、严谨、独立的科学程序”。这种透明度目前已受到质疑。《纽约时报》指出，USPSTF新成员的提名和遴选过程本应是透明并向公众公开的，但目前并未公开。《纽约时报》记者表示，他们已多次索要提名人相关材料，包括当面请求和根据《信息自由法》（FOIA）提出的请求。《纽约时报》已于8月为此提起诉讼，但至今仍未收到相关材料。

Here are the new members: 以下是新成员名单：

• Seth Corey, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Cleveland Clinic, who donated to a Donald Trump super PAC, as reported by Stat News. 塞思·科里（Seth Corey），克利夫兰诊所的儿科血液肿瘤学家，据Stat News报道，他曾向唐纳德·特朗普的超级政治行动委员会捐款。
• Patrick Hunter, a pediatrician at Pensacola Pediatrics in Florida, who has been critical of gender-affirming care for minors and suggested it leads to violence. 帕特里克·亨特（Patrick Hunter），佛罗里达州彭萨科拉儿科诊所的儿科医生，他曾批评针对未成年人的性别肯定护理，并暗示这会导致暴力。
• Ronald Karlsberg, a cardiologist and clinical professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. 罗纳德·卡尔斯伯格（Ronald Karlsberg），心脏病专家，西达赛奈医疗中心临床医学教授。
• Venkatesh Murthy, a professor of preventive cardiology at the University of Michigan, who has been critical of COVID-19 vaccines. 文卡特什·穆尔蒂（Venkatesh Murthy），密歇根大学预防心脏病学教授，曾批评新冠疫苗。
• Stephen Parente, a health economist and finance professor at the University of Minnesota’s School of Management. In Trump’s first term, Parente served as a senior economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisors. Trump nominated him to be the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation in the US health department, a role that requires Senate confirmation. His nomination was eventually withdrawn after concerns about financial conflicts. 斯蒂芬·帕伦特（Stephen Parente），明尼苏达大学管理学院的卫生经济学家和金融学教授。在特朗普第一任期内，帕伦特曾担任白宫经济顾问委员会的高级经济学家。特朗普曾提名他担任美国卫生部负责规划和评估的助理部长，该职位需要参议院确认。由于对财务冲突的担忧，他的提名最终被撤回。
• Goldie Stands-Over-Bull, a family medicine physician at Texas Native Health. 戈尔迪·斯坦兹-奥弗-布尔（Goldie Stands-Over-Bull），德克萨斯州原住民健康中心的家庭医学医生。
• Louis Wilson, a gastroenterologist at Wichita Falls Gastroenterology Associates in Texas. 路易斯·威尔逊（Louis Wilson），德克萨斯州威奇托福尔斯胃肠病学协会的胃肠病学家。
• Dennis Wulfeck, a radiologist at RadPartners MBB Radiology in Florida. 丹尼斯·伍尔费克（Dennis Wulfeck），佛罗里达州RadPartners MBB放射科的放射科医生。