HEALTH CARE WARS:
JUNE 2025 DASHBOARD
THE IDEOLOGICAL THEATER
HHS Influencers' activity on "Big Food" and "Big Pharma" (X data)
Notable new X followings
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
- Philip Barnstead:Lifestyle coach with background in biology
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz
- Mike Braun:Governor of Indiana
- Robin Smith, MD:Regenerative medicine entrepreneur
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya
- Andrea Howe:Nutrition Coach
- Dr. Stella Immanuel:Top U.S. prescriber of ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine
- Roger Stone:Republican political adviser
- Khoa Vu:Economic consultant with pharma and medical device client base
New Trump Administration hires and nominees
| Hire | Background | Pharma Perspectives | Food Perspectives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Klomp, Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicare, CMS | Health care IT entrepreneur and investor; board member of several health tech startups | N/A | Advisor to and investor in RxFood, a Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) company using AI to assess and improve patients' eating habits1 |
| Casey Means, U.S. Surgeon General nominee | Author, MAHA influencer, and co-founder of Levels | Believes vaccine mandates are "criminal" and criticizes vaccine makers' legal immunity2 | "Nothing is more valuable than buying food that doesn't gently poison us with every bite"3 |
| Dr. Vinay Prasad, Director of Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA | Doctor and professor at the University of California, San Francisco; gained prominence for his contrarian views during the COVID-19 pandemic | Claims he has "never taken a dollar from pharma" and admits his ideas "would make pharma less profitable"4 | "The entire modern American diet is the end product of unprecedented chemistry for which there is no evidence people are healthier"5 |
THE COMMERCIAL THEATER
Meta Platforms ad spending by key health care trade and professional organizations (April 20–May 19)
Corporate sponsors of health care conferences and "fly-ins"
Summit Sponsors: AstraZeneca, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, and GSK
Exhibit Sponsors: AbbVie, Alexion, BIO, Cabaletta Bio, Century Therapeutics, Cullinan Therapeutics, EMD Serono, The Insighters, UCB, and Viatris
Newsletter sponsors
Axios (Vitals)
Politico – Health Care
(Pulse and Prescription Pulse)
Politico – Food/Ag
(Weekly Agriculture)
STAT News
(D.C. Diagnosis and
Morning Rounds)
- "Company," RxFood, https://rxfood.com/company.
- Casey Means, MD [@CaseyMeansMD], "This is abjectly false...," X, November 1, 2024, https://x.com/CaseyMeansMD/status/1852407731983884309; and Casey Means, MD [@CaseyMeansMD], "Front groups for agrochemical corporations...," X, March 31, 2025, https://x.com/CaseyMeansMD/status/1906878993762275407.
- Casey Means, MD [@CaseyMeansMD], "If someone has the monetary resources to...," X, August 12, 2024, https://x.com/CaseyMeansMD/status/1823038932478812433.
- Vinay Prasad, "Does RFK Jr have a guiding philosophy or is he just spitballing?," Vinay Prasad's Observations and Thoughts, November 17, 2024, https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/does-rfk-jr-have-a-guiding-philosophy.
- Vinay Prasad, "Some thoughts on food," Vinay Prasad's Observations and Thoughts, April 13, 2025, https://www.drvinayprasad.com/p/some-thoughts-on-food.
- "Leadership Day," American College of Physicians, https://www.acponline.org/advocacy/get-involved-advocacy-in-action/leadership-day/access-leadership-day.
- "Exhibitors & Sponsors," 2025 Community Oncology Conference, https://coaconference.com/exhibitors-sponsors.
- "2025 National Lupus Advocacy Summit," Lupus Foundation of America, https://www.lupus.org/advocate/2025-national-lupus-advocacy-summit.
- "Conference," American Academy of Physician Assistants, https://www.aapa.org/conference.
About Baron
Baron has guided clients for nearly two decades through the most challenging political terrain. Applying a methodology focused on mastering the strategic competition of interests, Baron advises some of the nation's most prominent organizations, including members of the Fortune 10, several of America's largest privately held businesses, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Baron's health care sector clients have included insurers and pharmacy benefit managers, integrated health systems, and medical device firms.
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