The Trust Crisis: How Financial Conflicts on All Sides Are Undermining American Health

Profit, Politics, and “Wellness”: The Associated Press Takes Aim at MAHA

Money, MAHA and Big Pharma undermine Science 

As measles surges and MAHA leaders profit from wellness products, a deeper question emerges: Can Americans trust any health advice when money flows through every recommendation?

The Associated Press's October 24 investigative report exposing financial conflicts within the Make America Healthy Again movement has triggered a fierce national debate—but not the one its authors likely intended. Instead of simply discrediting health reform advocates, the investigation has exposed a more troubling reality: Americans face a health information ecosystem where financial incentives compromise credibility across the entire spectrum, from Big Pharma to Big Wellness, leaving patients with no clear path to trustworthy guidance.

The stakes couldn't be higher. As of October 21, 2025, the United States has reported 1,618 confirmed measles cases, with 87% outbreak-associated—a stark reversal for a disease declared eliminated in 2000. Yet the institutions warning against vaccine hesitancy carry their own credibility burdens from decades of pharmaceutical industry entanglements.

The MAHA Money Trail

The AP investigation documented extensive financial ties between MAHA leaders and the movement they champion. Del Bigtree received $350,000 from Kennedy's presidential campaign through his company, plus $184,000 from the MAHA Alliance, in addition to his $234,000 salary from the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) in 2023. After Kennedy became health secretary, Kennedy transferred the MAHA trademark to a company managed by Bigtree for "no compensation" after earning $100,000 in licensing fees.

At a natural products industry trade show in California, Bigtree told an audience of supplement sellers and food brands: "It blows my mind that I'm going to watch the Republicans carry the supplement industry and the holistic health industry and chiropractors and the acupuncturists into the promised land".

Mark McAfee, founder of Raw Farm LLC in California, presents an even more troubling case. At least 165 people were sickened with salmonella infections tied to Raw Farm products as of February 2024, representing the largest reported salmonella outbreak linked to raw milk in the U.S. in the past decade. The company has faced recalls since 2006, including incidents where three children who drank Raw Farm milk were hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome in 2011. Despite this record, McAfee applied for an FDA advisory role after Kennedy's transition team encouraged him.

Dr. Casey Means, nominated as Surgeon General, co-founded Levels, a company offering continuous glucose monitors, and is involved in her brother Calley's company, Truemed. Truemed helps users take tax-free money out of health savings accounts to spend on things that wouldn't normally qualify as medical expenses, such as exercise equipment, meal delivery services and homeopathic remedies. The IRS issued an alert last year stating: "Beware of companies misrepresenting nutrition, wellness and general health expenses as medical care".

The AP investigation, which analyzed over 420 bills in state legislatures targeting vaccines, water fluoridation, and raw milk safety, found that at least two dozen anti-vaccine laws have been adopted in 11 states this year, with most supported by at least one of four national groups connected to Kennedy.

The Scientific Credibility Problem

MAHA's challenges extend beyond financial conflicts to basic scientific rigor. Kennedy's initial MAHA report, containing more than 500 citations, included at least seven studies that did not exist, with papers falsely attributed to JAMA Pediatrics and other journals. Dr. Katherine Keyes, cited as first author of a paper on teen depression, confirmed to ABC News that she never wrote the paper attributed to her.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attributed the errors to "formatting issues". However, the second MAHA report, released in September 2025, contained no citations at all. The MAHA commission's first report was found to have fake citations suggestive of artificial intelligence use.

The real-world consequences are measurable. During January 1–April 17, 2025, 800 measles cases were reported, with 82% associated with an outbreak in close-knit communities with low vaccination coverage in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, with 85 patients hospitalized and three deaths. More than 90% of patients were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Across the Americas, 10,139 confirmed measles cases and 18 deaths have been reported as of August 8, 2025, representing a 34-fold increase compared to 2024, with 71% occurring in unvaccinated individuals.

The Pharmaceutical Industry's Mirror Image

Yet the AP investigation appears in a context it largely ignores: the pharmaceutical industry's own extensive history of placing profit above patient safety, creating the very trust deficit that MAHA exploits.

The COVID-19 vaccine trials provide a recent case study. Pfizer maintained proprietary control over much of its clinical trial data, initially requesting 75 years to release full documentation through Freedom of Information Act requests. A federal judge ultimately ordered faster release, but the lack of transparency fueled public skepticism.

In November 2021, The BMJ published allegations from Brook Jackson, a regional director at Ventavia Research Group, one of Pfizer's contracted clinical trial sites, reporting concerns about falsified data, unblinded patients, inadequately trained vaccinators, and lack of timely follow-up on adverse events. The FDA never inspected the Ventavia sites despite these allegations.

The pharmaceutical industry's track record includes catastrophic failures where peer review, academic endorsement, and FDA approval all failed to protect patients:

• Vioxx (Merck): Withdrawn in 2004 after causing an estimated 27,000-60,000 deaths from heart attacks and strokes, despite internal documents showing Merck knew about cardiovascular risks.

• OxyContin (Purdue Pharma): Aggressive marketing while downplaying addiction risks helped fuel the opioid crisis, resulting in criminal charges and bankruptcy.

• Risperdal (Johnson & Johnson): Marketing antipsychotic drugs for off-label use in children and elderly patients led to a $2.2 billion settlement in 2013.

The "revolving door" between pharmaceutical companies and regulatory agencies is well-documented. A 2018 Science investigation found that of 107 FDA physician reviewers who approved cancer drugs between 2001-2010, 40 left the agency, and 26 went to work for the pharmaceutical industry. Industry funding accounts for approximately 45% of the FDA's drug review budget through user fees.

A 2023 Pew Research survey found that only 29% of Americans have "a great deal" of confidence in medical scientists to act in the public's best interest—down from 40% in April 2020. This erosion reflects legitimate grievances about an industry that has priced insulin at 1,000%+ markups, spent more on marketing than research and development, and funded patient advocacy groups to lobby for manufacturer-friendly policies.

The Double Standard Problem

This history creates a critical asymmetry in how conflicts of interest are evaluated:

When pharmaceutical companies profit: This is characterized as the necessary economic model for medical innovation, with conflicts managed through disclosure and peer review.

When wellness entrepreneurs profit: This is characterized as inherently corrupting and "anti-science."

Tony Lyons, who runs MAHA Action and Kennedy's longtime publisher Skyhorse, told AP that his books present "a responsible argument based on rigorous research" and called the term anti-vaccine a "pharmaceutical company talking point". While this deflects from legitimate safety concerns, it resonates with millions who have watched pharmaceutical companies escape accountability for documented harm.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation—organizations with deep ties to traditional biomedical philanthropy and vaccine advocacy. The AP correctly notes these relationships don't compromise editorial independence, yet applies a different standard when evaluating MAHA's funding sources.

Competing Business Models, Same Problem

The debate forces a false binary: trust traditional pharmaceutical medicine with its documented conflicts, or embrace alternative wellness approaches with their own financial entanglements and weaker evidence standards.

HSA expansions in Trump's bill are projected to cost the federal government $180 billion over the next 10 years—creating a massive new revenue stream for wellness companies. Meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry spent $8.1 billion on direct-to-consumer advertising in 2023 alone.

Food policy expert Marion Nestle said the second MAHA report "seems to twist itself into knots to make it clear that it will not be infringing upon food companies"—suggesting regulatory capture works in both directions.

What Science We Can Trust Requires

The measles outbreak data strongly suggests that declining vaccination rates have real, measurable health consequences. Raw milk's safety record shows clear risks that pasteurization prevents. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic who previously led a nonprofit that has made false claims about shots causing autism, has continued to raise doubts about the safety of inoculations even as the measles outbreak has sickened more than 1,000 Americans.

Yet concerns about ultra-processed foods, pesticide exposure, and pharmaceutical industry influence have scientific merit. The question isn't whether financial interests exist on both sides—they clearly do—but which policies actually improve health outcomes based on transparent, independently verifiable evidence.

Americans need health guidance they can trust, but trust requires:

1. Universal transparency standards: Whether Pfizer's vaccine trial data or Raw Farm's safety records, complete public disclosure should be non-negotiable.

2. Independent oversight: Regulatory agencies funded primarily by the industries they regulate cannot provide impartial evaluation. Neither can advocacy organizations funded by competing industries.

3. Evidence-based accountability: When products cause harm—whether Vioxx or raw milk—consequences must be swift and proportional, regardless of the industry involved.

4. Honest acknowledgment of uncertainty: Both traditional medicine and alternative approaches should clearly distinguish between established evidence, emerging research, and speculation.

5. Financial disclosure requirements: Everyone making health recommendations—physicians, influencers, government officials, journalists—should disclose all relevant financial relationships.

Beyond Tribal Medicine

The pharmaceutical industry's credibility problems don't make raw milk safe or validate vaccine skepticism. MAHA's financial conflicts don't negate concerns about ultra-processed foods or regulatory capture. Both statements are true simultaneously.

The path forward isn't choosing which conflicted industry to trust, but building systems that reduce conflicts across the board:

• Publicly funded drug development to separate research from marketing
• Mandatory pre-registration of all clinical trials with public data repositories
• FDA funding through general appropriations rather than industry user fees
• Transparent standards for supplement safety claims with meaningful enforcement
• Independent bodies evaluating evidence without industry representation
• Real penalties for data manipulation, whether by pharmaceutical companies or wellness entrepreneurs

When the AP investigation highlights Del Bigtree's $750,000 in payments from Kennedy-affiliated groups without proportional scrutiny of the billions pharmaceutical companies spend on physician marketing and lobbying, it perpetuates the problem it purports to expose: selective outrage based on tribal affiliation rather than consistent ethical standards.

The Cost of Corruption

The Southwest measles outbreak has been concentrated in Mennonite communities with low vaccination rates, with Texas reporting 762 total cases before declaring the outbreak over in August 2025. Children are suffering because their parents don't trust medical advice—and that distrust wasn't created by Del Bigtree alone. It was earned through decades of pharmaceutical industry misconduct that institutions downplayed, excused, or enabled.

Until traditional medical institutions fully reckon with their own credibility crisis—including genuine reforms that address regulatory capture, pricing exploitation, and data transparency—their critiques of alternative health movements will ring hollow. And until MAHA proponents accept that expertise, rigorous testing, and regulatory oversight serve essential protective functions, their movement will continue producing policies that endanger vulnerable populations.

Americans deserve better than choosing between industries that prioritize profit over health. We need science we can trust—which means science freed from financial conflicts, not science that merely aligns with our preferred narrative about who the villains are.

The real scandal isn't that MAHA leaders profit from wellness products while pharmaceutical executives profit from vaccines. It's that we've built a health system where financial incentives corrupt decision-making at every level, and partisans on both sides defend their team's conflicts while condemning the opposition's identical behavior.

Children are getting measles because adults can't agree on trustworthy sources. That's not a failure of science—it's a failure of integrity across the entire health sector. Until we address corruption everywhere it exists, rather than only where it's politically convenient to see it, public health will continue to suffer.

---

Sources and Citations

1. Smith, Michelle R., and Laura Ungar. "Who Benefits from the MAHA Anti-Science Push?" Associated Press, October 24, 2025. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/10/21/anti-science-movement-profit/

2. "RFK Jr.'s MAHA Report Cited Nonexistent Studies." ABC News, May 30, 2025. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rfk-jrs-maha-report-contained-existent-studies/story?id=122321059

3. "White House Acknowledges Problems in RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' Report." NPR, May 30, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/29/nx-s1-5417346/white-house-acknowledges-problems-in-rfk-jr-s-make-america-healthy-again-report

4. "RFK Jr.'s New 'MAHA' Report Gives Road Map to Improving Kids' Health but Stops Short of Action." NBC News, September 9, 2025. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/kennedys-new-maha-report-outlines-steps-improve-kids-health-short-spec-rcna223893

5. "Takeaways from AP's Investigation on Anti-Science Legislation." The Columbian, October 25, 2025. https://www.columbian.com/news/2025/oct/25/takeaways-from-aps-investigation-on-anti-science-legislation/

6. "Del Bigtree." Wikipedia, October 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Bigtree

7. "Anti-Vaccine Group with Ties to RFK Jr. Saw Another Windfall Last Year, Records Show." NBC News, December 23, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/anti-vaccine-group-ican-del-bigtree-rfk-jr-nearly-doubled-revenue-rcna185214

8. Aleccia, JoNel. "Dozens Were Sickened with Salmonella After Drinking Raw Milk from a California Farm." NBC News, July 11, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/dozens-sickened-salmonella-drinking-raw-milk-california-farm-rcna161422

9. "Outbreak Linked to Raw Milk from California Farm." Contagion Live, July 30, 2025. https://www.contagionlive.com/view/outbreak-linked-to-raw-milk-from-california-farm

10. "Maverick Operator of California Raw Milk Dairy Could Have Role in Trump's FDA." Silicon Valley, December 6, 2024. https://www.siliconvalley.com/2024/12/04/maverick-operator-of-raw-milk-dairy-that-sickened-children-could-have-role-in-trumps-fda/

11. "California Raw Milk Producer Says RFK Jr. Has Encouraged Him to Apply for FDA Position." Yahoo News, December 5, 2024. https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-raw-milk-producer-says-124454455.html

12. "Casey Means." Wikipedia, October 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Means

13. Bebinger, Martha. "RFK Jr. Aide Attacks U.S. Health System as Corrupt While Running Company That Promotes Alternatives." PBS News, June 10, 2025. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/rfk-jr-aide-attacks-u-s-health-system-as-corrupt-while-running-company-that-promotes-alternatives

14. "Trump Picks Casey Means for Surgeon General, After First Nominee Withdraws." NPR, May 8, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/07/nx-s1-5389962/trump-casey-means-surgeon-general

15. "Measles Cases and Outbreaks." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, October 22, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/measles/data-research/index.html

16. Oster, Alexandra M., et al. "Measles Update — United States, January 1–April 17, 2025." Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, April 24, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7414a1.htm

17. Elechi, Ubalaeze Solomon. "The 2025 United States Measles Crisis: When Vaccine Hesitancy Meets Reality." PMC, 2025. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12357784/

18. "Ten Countries in the Americas Report Measles Outbreaks in 2025." Pan American Health Organization, August 15, 2025. https://www.paho.org/en/news/15-8-2025-ten-countries-americas-report-measles-outbreaks-2025

19. "2025 Southwest United States Measles Outbreak." Wikipedia, October 2025. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Southwest_United_States_measles_outbreak

20. Thacker, Paul. "Covid-19: Researcher Blows the Whistle on Data Integrity Issues in Pfizer's Vaccine Trial." The BMJ, November 2, 2021. https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2635

21. Pew Research Center. "Americans' Trust in Scientists, Positive Views of Science Continue to Decline." November 14, 2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2023/11/14/americans-trust-in-scientists-positive-views-of-science-continue-to-decline/

22. TrialSite Staff. "Profit, Politics, and 'Wellness': The Associated Press Takes Aim at MAHA." TrialSite News, October 26, 2025.