The New York Times (NYT) published a piece Thursday bashing Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on stem cell research — despite previously publishing stories appearing to concur with him.
Kennedy, who alleviated his condition of spasmodic dysphonia thanks to stem cell treatments, told the “Ultimate Human Podcast with Gary Brecka” in May that he wants to remove barriers to the treatment for other people.
“If you want to take an experimental drug — you can do that, you ought to be able to do that,” he said.
But the NYT on Thursday appeared to take an exception to that stance.
In a piece titled “Kennedy Says ‘Charlatans’ Are No Reason to Block Unproven Stem Cell Treatments,” the NYT’s sub-headline warns, “some methods have resulted in blindness, tumors and other injuries.”
In multiple pieces over the last eight years, however, the outlet’s coverage of stem cell treatments has been downright glowing. (RELATED:Congress Joins RFK’s Crusade Against Big Pharma)
In 2017, the outlet published an interview transcript highlighting a Japanese researcher’s advancements in the field.
In the very first paragraph of the piece, the outlet appeared to chastise former President George W. Bush for banning federal funding for stem cell research involving human embryos.
“The action stalled research and discouraged scientists,” the NYT wrote.
Similarly, the feminist author Susan Gubar sounded almost Kennedyian in a NYT opinion piece two years later.
“Liars and thieves must not be allowed to detract from meticulous scientific research that has made umbilical cord blood mystic in its regenerative powers,” she wrote.
And in a 2019 news article about stem cell treatments for Type 1 diabetes, the outlet touted the “hope” that stem cells have given 1.5 million Americans living with the disease.
Despite its previous praise, the outlet’s Thursday article took a markedly different tone.
“If Mr. Kennedy does permit broader use of unauthorized or experimental therapies, he would be reversing longstanding efforts by the F.D.A. to monitor and sometimes police the emerging field,” the outlet wrote.
While the NYT has covered the Food and Drug Administration‘s (FDA) warnings about stem cell treatments in the past, none of the above linked articles mentioned those warnings — besides the piece involving Kennedy Jr.
