More than a thousand doctors, nurses, and public health experts have signed an open letter calling on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to abandon his presidential campaign, warning that his long record of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation is endangering the nation’s health.
The letter, circulated this week among medical professionals nationwide, argues that Kennedy’s campaign has given new visibility to discredited claims about vaccines, undermining trust in lifesaving immunizations at a time when the country is still grappling with the fallout from COVID-19.
“Mr. Kennedy has used his platform to spread baseless conspiracy theories that threaten public confidence in vaccines and put children and vulnerable populations at risk,” the letter states. “As health care providers, we cannot stay silent while his rhetoric fuels preventable disease outbreaks.”
Kennedy, who has built much of his political brand around questioning vaccine safety despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, has dismissed such criticisms in the past as censorship attempts. But the medical community’s latest intervention signals growing alarm over his campaign’s influence.
Signatories to the letter include pediatricians, infectious disease specialists, ER doctors, and frontline nurses, many of whom said they have treated patients suffering from illnesses that could have been prevented by vaccination. Several warned that Kennedy’s prominence risks undoing decades of public health progress.
“Every time he repeats falsehoods, we see parents hesitate, and we see children left unprotected,” said Dr. Maya Patel, a pediatrician in Chicago who signed the letter. “This isn’t politics—it’s about preventing unnecessary deaths.”
The group is urging Kennedy to step aside, arguing that his candidacy not only erodes trust in public health but also fuels polarization around basic science. “We believe in free speech,” the letter concludes, “but when misinformation leads directly to preventable suffering, leaders have a moral obligation to stop.”