By: Ashley Bergeron

Staff-Writer

On Feb. 13, President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) commission. The goal of the MAHA commission is to address the chronic illness crisis and research how to change the healthcare system to prevent chronic illness, not just manage it. We spoke with Dr. Dawn Hopkins, a Clinical Associate Professor in the Dwyer School of Health Sciences, and surveyed five students through an online form. 

Our small sample had a tentatively positive reception to the executive order, with many expressing excitement and hopefulness about the MAHA Commission.

Hopkins testified to the chronic illness crisis in the U.S., saying she has observed a degradation of the overall health of her students over the past 10 years. 

Speech Language Pathology student Alexus Messer stated, “It’s insane how many kids today are suffering from autoimmune diseases, allergies, and other conditions.”

One common sentiment about the MAHA movement’s endeavors was, ‘why wasn’t this done sooner?’ For example, the U.S. lags behind many countries in regulation of food additives. Applied Health Sciences student Anna Kubik cited Red 40, a food dye common in U.S. products, as an example.

“We are in a vicious cycle where producers are packing our foods and products so full of unnecessary chemicals and carcinogens which are causing chronic illness,” she stated. “Knowing this outcome, you would think there would be regulations in place, as many other countries have […] against using these chemicals to keep us safe.”

Respondents also praised the focus on transparency in research and ensuring that special interests don’t control scientific research. Hopkins noted that the majority of Food and Drug Administration commissioners have had a connection with pharmaceutical companies; nine of the 10 last commissioners went on to work in the pharmaceutical industry.

“One of the biggest things I love about this is the focus on transparency in federally funded research. For too long, we’ve seen Big Pharma and special interests controlling the narrative, pushing medications instead of real health solutions,” Messer said in her survey.

Hopkins said that while she isn’t against prescriptions and has benefited from them herself, she believes that health professionals rely on prescriptions too heavily as a first resort. According to Hopkins, health is like a puzzle; medications are important to help one’s health, but so are things like exercise and eating healthy.

While there were positive reactions, some health sciences students also expressed doubts. 

Lindsey Olson, a Speech Language Pathology student, stated she is concerned about the possibility of restricted access to medication, particularly for children. 

“My concern is, especially with what this President has done so far, medications will be ripped out from under the children who are currently on them without thought or real concern,” she wrote.

Nursing student Jenny Piasecki wrote that she thinks the MAHA Commission will be harmful to the healthcare industry. 

“It’s going to set health science back in this country and isn’t addressing the real issues in healthcare, which is the high cost of prescription drugs and lack of insurance reimbursements,” Piasecki stated. 

While Hopkins said she doesn’t agree with everything that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – Health and Human Services secretary and chair of the MAHA Commission – has stated, she is hopeful that these initiatives will make Americans healthier and address problems with the healthcare system.

Correction note:

In my Feb. 26 article about MAHA, titled “Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to chair Make America Health Again Commission,” I mentioned that Kennedy was criticized for his alleged role in vaccine hesitancy in Samoa, which contributed to a measles outbreak there. However, the story is more complicated. The island had a history of low vaccination rates, and two years before the outbreak, two infants died after receiving measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines that were prepared incorrectly. Instead of using water in the vaccine preparation, two nurses used an expired muscle relaxant. These deaths caused additional vaccine skepticism among Samoan parents. In our interview, Dr. Hopkins noted that Kennedy’s visit to Samoa came only two months before the outbreak, which would not have been enough time to contribute significantly to a decrease in immunization rates. Critics say Kennedy used the children’s deaths, and later the outbreak, as opportunities to publicize his vaccine skepticism, including in a letter to the Samoan prime minister, where he urged the Samoan Health Ministry to investigate whether the outbreak was caused by “a defective vaccine.” Ultimately, Samoan officials said there is no conclusive evidence Kennedy directly contributed to the outbreak or low vaccination rates.