Cortez Masto Grills RFK Jr. About His Repeated Failures to Protect Americans’ Health Care

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Washington, D.C. –
Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) questioned Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Senate Finance Committee. She pressed him on holding up approval for lifesaving cancer drugs, letting health care fraudsters off the hook, and his role in the recent layoffs at Boulder City Hospital.
First, Cortez Masto pressed Kennedy on his Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent
decision
not to approve a new lifesaving cancer drug to treat metastatic melanoma. Despite support from oncologists and the fact that a preliminary FDA panel approved the drug last year before that decision was rescinded, Secretary Kennedy repeatedly and falsely claimed that no panel or scientist agreed the drug was effective. The Senator highlighted the need for transparency for patients desperate for help.
Cortez Masto proceeded to call out Secretary Kennedy’s hypocrisy when it comes to combating health care fraud.
Last year, Trump pardoned at least two individuals convicted of massive health care fraud, including
Lawrence Duran
, who was convicted of defrauding Medicare out of $205 million and had been sentenced to 50 years in prison.
“Have you talked to the president about the fact he is actively undermining your agency’s work to combat fraud?” asked the Senator.
Kennedy claimed he didn’t “know anything about that case” and changed the subject to the Biden Administration rather than answering the Senator’s question.
“I’m not talking about the past, I’m talking about now,” she replied.
Finally, Cortez Masto asked Kennedy to answer
for the Trump Administration’s policies that
led Boulder City Hospital
to downgrade to a Rural Emergency Hospital and lay off 70 staff members.
The Boulder City Hospital CEO has affirmed that the Trump Administration’s
One Big Beautiful Bill
led to his decision to restructure the hospital, forcing them to no longer offer inpatient services.
“My question to you is, what are you going to do to make sure our rural communities are not left in a health care desert without a reasonable way to access those services?” the Senator asked.
Kennedy provided no explanation as to how he would help rural hospitals and the communities they serve in the wake of the Trump Administration’s disastrous Medicaid cuts.
Senator Cortez Masto
opposed
Secretary Kennedy’s confirmation and has been fighting his disastrous policies since the moment he took office. In a prior committee hearing, she
grilled
Kennedy on his health care price hikes and his
bailouts
to Big Pharma in drug price negotiations. Cortez Masto has
raised the alarm
about the Trump Administration’s efforts to restrict abortion access. She demanded that Kennedy reverse his funding cuts to
Head Start
and
mental health services
and
restore
the critical HHS staff he fired without cause.
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