Cabinet Officials’ Drug-Price Claim and Flu-Shot Policy Change Prompt Public-Health Debate

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that prescription-drug prices had dropped by “600 percent,” a statement repeated beside President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. The same day, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the end of the military’s mandatory annual influenza-vaccine requirement for active-duty personnel.

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Kennedy’s claim follows a series of health-policy disputes, including his prior halt of a CDC flu-vaccine ad campaign and public promotion of a “Make America Healthy Again” brand. Hegseth has paired the flu-shot rollback with the “Pete and Bobby Challenge,” a fitness stunt the Pentagon has used to market a “FIT — NOT FAT” message.

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Mathematically, a 600 percent reduction is impossible. A drop from $500 to $100 equals an 80 percent decrease: [(500-100)/500] × 100 = 80 %. Conversely, a rise from $100 to $600 is a 500 percent increase; a return to $100 is an 83.3 percent decrease, not 600 percent.

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Kennedy defended the figure, saying he uses “a different way of calculating.” Trump added that “there are two ways of calculating it.” Hegseth described the flu-shot change as a matter of “medical autonomy,” emphasizing that service members’ “body, faith, and convictions are not negotiable.” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz argued that U.S. drug prices remain higher than those in Europe and Canada, though he did not address the specific percentage claim.

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Former CDC official Dr. Demetre Daskalakis called the claim “creative scientific accounting” and warned it erodes public-health credibility. U.S. District Judge Mustafa T. labeled Kennedy’s actions “unserious leaders are unsafe” and noted “he acts with cruelty” when acting outside the law. Senator Elizabeth Warren challenged the 600 percent figure in a Senate hearing, noting it would require drugmakers to pay patients. Public-health experts cautioned that ending mandatory flu shots could raise outbreak risk in barracks, ships and submarines.

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Sources disagree on the basis of the 600 percent claim. Kennedy and Trump cite a “different” calculation method, while Daskalakis and Warren apply standard percentage logic that shows the claim is mathematically false. No data were provided to substantiate the administration’s assertion that U.S. drug prices are excessively high relative to other nations.

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• “The distortion of math seems in line with the rest of RFK Jr.’s creative scientific accounting,” — Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, former CDC official

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• “body, faith, and convictions are not negotiable.” — Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary

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• “unserious leaders are unsafe” — U.S. District Judge Mustafa T.

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• “two ways of calculating it.” — President Donald Trump

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• “a different way of calculating,” — Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Senate oversight of the drug-price claim continues, and public-health officials will monitor influenza rates among troops after the flu-shot policy change.

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