As DOGE Shakeup Looms, a Thiel Protégé Looks to Disrupt U.S. Health Department

In November, virologist Beata Halassy announced to the world that she had cured her own breast cancer using a treatment developed in a laboratory she runs. Many in the medical community celebrated her breakthrough, which she says has allowed her to live cancer-free for over four years. But some bioethicists worried that overpublicizing the results of her self-experimentation could encourage others with less expertise to reject conventional cancer treatment.

This criticism caught the eye of Jim O’Neill, a Peter Thiel protégé and biotech investor, who took a dim view of their complaints. “These people think curing cancer is unethical, but vaccine mandates are good,” he tweeted derisively in November. “Let’s make America healthy again.”

That slogan should sound familiar. It’s the same one Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has used to catapult himself into a nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the massive federal agency that includes organizations like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And shortly, O’Neill is likely to join forces formally with Kennedy.