Tuberculosis Outbreak, RFK, Jr.’s Confirmation Hearings and Polar Bear Hair

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  Happy Monday, listeners, for Scientific American Science Quickly, I'm Rachel Feltman.

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  Hope your February is off to a great start.

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  Let's kick off the week by catching up on all the science news you might have missed.

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  First, a quick note on some presidential moves that might impact health and science.

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  Robert F.

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  Kennedy,

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  Jr. Faced at least some bipartisan pushback during confirmation hearings for his nomination for Secretary of the U.S. department of Health and Human Services.

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  On Thursday, the chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education,

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  labor and Pensions, Republican Bill Cassidy,

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  pressed Kennedy to take a definitive pro vaccine stance.

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  Cassidy, who practiced medicine for decades, claims he has constituents who credit Kennedy,

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  at least in part, for their decision not to vaccinate.

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  After a lot of back and forth, Cassidy asked Kennedy to agree that if he were confirmed,

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  the US Food and Drug Administration would not,

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  quote, deprioritize or delay review and or approval of new vaccines,

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  and that vaccine review standards will not change from historical norms.

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  Kennedy replied in the affirmative,

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  but it's important to note that the nominee has a long history of promoting vaccine misinformation.

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  You can read more about RFK Jr. S healthcare track record@ScientificAmerican.com,

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  and we'll keep you updated on the confirmation hearings as they proceed.

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