Overview

• Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released a 20-page MAHA plan directing agencies to investigate vaccine injuries, prescription drug use and autism, with NIH ordered to link claims, electronic health records and wearables into an integrated research dataset.
• The strategy largely avoids new pesticide restrictions and instead calls for research on cumulative exposures, EPA public‑awareness efforts and more precise application, drawing sharp criticism from MAHA‑aligned environmental activists.
• Beyond vaccines and autism, proposals include a definition for ultraprocessed foods, tighter oversight of pharmaceutical advertising by influencers and telehealth firms, limits on certain food dyes, closer scrutiny of infant formula and efforts to expand access to donor human milk.
• The report calls for a federal working group to review SSRI prescribing patterns in children, and Kennedy said NIH is examining potential contributors to U.S. gun violence such as overmedication, social media and video games.
• The rollout follows turmoil inside public‑health agencies, including the CDC director’s ouster and staff departures, and it assigns large tasks to NIH even as the administration has proposed roughly a 40% budget cut, leaving funding and execution uncertain.