Top health official accuses RFK Jr’s agency of ‘censorship’

A top official at the National Institutes of Health announced his abrupt retirement from the agency after 21 years, complaining about censorship under the leadership of HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

NIH senior investigator Kevin Hall complained that he “experienced censorship” during his investigation of ultra-processed food addiction.

“After 21 years at my dream job, I’m very sad to announce my early retirement from the National Institutes of Health. My life’s work has been to scientifically study how our food environment affects what we eat, and how what we eat affects our physiology,” Hall wrote in a lengthy post on social media.

“Lately, I’ve focused on unraveling the reasons why diets high in ultra-processed food are linked to epidemic proportions of chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Our research leads the world on this topic,” he continued.

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A top official at the National Institutes of Health said he experienced “censorship” under Robert F. Kennedy’s leadership. ((Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images))

Hall said that he was initially encouraged by Kennedy’s public statements about chronic illness and problems with America’s food systems. However, he says he “experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about ultra-processed food addiction.”

“I wrote to my agency’s leadership expressing my concerns and requested time to discuss these issues, but I never received a response,” Hall added.

A seal that reads “U.S. Public Health Service” adorns a building on the campus of the National Institutes of Health. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Newsmakers)

The NIH did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Hall’s claims come days after Kennedy visited FDA employees last week and reportedly told them that “the Deep State is real.”

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“President Trump always talks about the Deep State, and the media, you know, disparages him and says that he’s paranoid,” Kennedy said according to Politico, which reported it obtained an audio recording and transcript of the secretary’s remarks. “But the Deep State is real. And it’s not, you know, just George Soros and Bill Gates and a bunch of nefarious individuals sitting together in a room and plotting the, you know, the destruction of humanity.”

President Donald Trump has complained about “deep state” officials who oppose his agenda within the federal government. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

According to multiple reports, Kennedy pointed the finger at “institutional pressures.”

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Kennedy also reportedly said the FDA had become a “sock puppet” of the industries it was meant to regulate. NBC News reported that Kennedy said that this was the case with “every agency,” not just the FDA.