{"id":32906,"date":"2025-11-03T09:37:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/32906\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T09:37:06","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T09:37:06","slug":"how-texas-became-the-heart-of-rfk-jr-s-maha-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/32906\/","title":{"rendered":"How Texas became the heart of RFK Jr.&#8217;s MAHA movement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">AUSTIN, Texas \u2014\u00a0California has long been considered a kind of political fortuneteller, offering a preview of the policies that later emerge elsewhere in the country, and in Washington. But in the age of Trump 2.0 and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/08\/25\/rfk-maha-1-year-momentum-cracks-forming\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Make America Healthy Again movement<\/a>, Texas is the place to look.<\/p>\n<p>With its diverse population, a political establishment eager to please the Trump administration, and a cabal of prominent MAHA converts, the state has become a testing ground for a spate of health-related legislative efforts in recent months. Those moves center on everything from looser school vaccine requirements to bans on fluoridated drinking water, mandatory nutrition courses for doctors, new food labels \u2014 and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a good place to see where rubber meets the road, too. In Texas, the second-largest state by size and population, MAHA dreams are up against big-state complications, including industry interests and inequities in access to quality health care and food.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Like much of the country, Texas has room to improve in health care. Inequality here starts at birth: Nearly half of the state\u2019s counties are considered maternity care deserts, according to a 2024 analysis from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marchofdimes.org\/peristats\/data?top=23&amp;lev=1&amp;stop=641&amp;reg=99&amp;sreg=48&amp;obj=9&amp;slev=4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">March of Dimes<\/a>. Texans struggle to stay healthy into adulthood, too. On <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/05\/20\/kennedy-maha-commission-report-chronic-disease-new-data-how-to-prioritize\/#red-states\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">average, the prevalence<\/a> of all chronic conditions in the state was nearly 14% in recent years, higher than in other large states such as Alaska, Florida, and California. Over one-third of adults in Texas have obesity, and hospitalizations for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.texastribune.org\/2023\/11\/01\/east-texas-diabetes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">diabetes<\/a> alone cost Texas $5 billion annually, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.texas.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/jan-2025-tdc-agenda-item-5.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">state estimates<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An August poll from the University of Texas at Austin found health care was a top worry for respondents, with 63% saying they were <a href=\"https:\/\/texaspolitics.utexas.edu\/set\/concern-about-the-cost-of-healthcare-august-2025#overall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">very concerned<\/a> about costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These problems persist, with some variation, whether one is in deep-red MAGA country or blue hubs like Dallas and Austin. Despite those progressive city voters, Trump won the state with 56.3% of the vote in 2024. Republicans have won Texas in every presidential election since Jimmy Carter carried it five decades ago.<\/p>\n<p>These days, chatter in Washington doesn\u2019t always penetrate people\u2019s consciousness. During a STAT reporter\u2019s weeklong trip through the heart of the state in late September, Texans expressed limited familiarity with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and even less awareness of his MAHA movement. But their everyday concerns echoed those of Americans nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Many spoke about trying to stretch their money and time to prepare home-cooked meals, or avoiding health-harming foods and chemicals. Others said they struggled to get thorough health care when they needed it from a provider they trusted. Most were wading through vast amounts of information online, and \u2014 above all \u2014 just trying to keep their families healthy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t even complain about it because they don\u2019t feel that anything is ever going to be done,\u201d said Ishmael Harris, mayor of Bastrop, a small city outside of Austin. He is advocating for a regional hospital in his rural area.<\/p>\n<p>Others talked about what they saw as a lack of humanity in the current health care system, medicine\u2019s overreliance on pharmaceuticals, and corporate interests causing their ill health. Much of what people had picked up on lately when it comes to health and wellness came from short snippets on social media; distrust in the mainstream press abounded.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A \u2018laboratory\u2019 for MAHA<\/p>\n<p>The average Texan may not know MAHA by name, but the movement has undoubtedly taken root here. In late August, Gov. Greg Abbott (R), a close ally of President Trump\u2019s, sat shoulder to shoulder with Kennedy as he signed a package of MAHA bills at a desk adorned with a blue placard reading \u201cMaking Texas Healthier.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really happy to be here in Austin today for this historic occasion that puts Texas, once again, ahead of the nation in leadership,\u201d Kennedy said, adding that no state, \u201cwith the possible exception of Louisiana,\u201d had gotten more robust MAHA legislation passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The legislation mandates that schoolchildren receive at least a half-hour of physical activity every day and are offered nutrition education. The law also says all aspiring health care workers and physicians seeking to renew their licenses will have to complete courses on nutrition. Other legislation establishes new food labeling requirements, bans artificial food dyes and additives in low-cost school meals, and pulls sugary drinks and candy out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/MAHA_NUTRITION-768x432.jpg\" class=\"attachment-article-main-medium-large size-article-main-medium-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/07\/24\/rfk-jr-nutrition-education-medical-schools\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Doctors are biased against higher-weight patients. Can nutrition education help them change?<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A key part of the MAHA movement\u2019s strategy so far has been developing laws in states \u2014 \u201claboratories of innovation,\u201d as Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has called them \u2014\u00a0in order to create a groundswell of pressure and push companies into changing their practices without the need for federal regulation. Texas, as a red state deeply allied with Trump, quickly complied with that formula. Even before its big MAHA package, the state passed bans on lab-grown meat and cellphones in schools, other matters the administration cares about.<\/p>\n<p>Other states have passed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/10\/22\/anti-science-bills-statehouses-vaccines-fluoride-rfk-jr\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">a crush of MAHA bills<\/a> this year as well, all inspired or encouraged by allies of the health secretary. Mostly, they have been championed by Republicans, who want to please the president and see MAHA as a winning political issue for core and swing voters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Midterm elections could be a referendum on that idea, especially as Kennedy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/public-opinion\/kff-tracking-poll-on-health-information-and-trust-tylenol-autism-link-and-vaccine-policies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">struggles to maintain popular support<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Political moments like MAHA get \u201ctwo to four years \u2014 maybe six, if you\u2019re lucky \u2014 before they float out of the popular lexicon,\u201d Travis McCormick, an Austin-based political consultant and an architect of key MAHA legislation, told STAT. He has started a political action committee, Make Texans Healthy Again, to advance more bills next session.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/09282025_STAT_Dallas_Farmers-Market_08-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1393896\"  \/>Williams, processing a transaction from one of his market regulars, works alongside his parents at Williams Garden in Jacksonville, Texas.Jamie Carrero for STAT<\/p>\n<p>Differing views on administration priorities<\/p>\n<p>Such political calculations are of little import to most Texans. But debate about certain health issues still gets through to even the most news-averse. In late September, it was nearly impossible to ignore Trump\u2019s claim that Tylenol use during pregnancy may cause autism spectrum disorder \u2014\u00a0and his exhortation to parents to avoid brand-name acetaminophen while offering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/09\/22\/trump-autism-tylenol-leucovorin-what-science-says\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">little evidence<\/a> to support his plea.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amber Bogie, 36, had just seen the news that morning, a few days after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/09\/22\/trump-autism-action-plan-tylenol-link-leucovorin-treatment\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trump\u2019s press conference<\/a> about autism. As a new mom, the Austin-based tech marketer avoids social media for her own well-being.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI took Tylenol, like, three times while I was pregnant, so I think I\u2019m in the clear,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Alysha Bogie, Amber\u2019s 39-year-old sister, on the other hand, was very tuned in. She manages Ulu, a luxurious wellness spa here that offers \u201cmiracle anti-aging\u201d IV drips, saunas, cold plunge pools, and red light therapy beds. Alysha trained as a nurse but quickly realized during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic that she wanted to pursue a career in wellness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The sisters are, like many Americans, taking stock of MAHA \u2014 however one defines it \u2014 and arriving at divergent views while trying not to let that separate them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/STAT_Chronic_Lead_4000w-768x432.jpg\" class=\"attachment-article-main-medium-large size-article-main-medium-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/themes\/stat\/images\/home\/statplus.svg\" width=\"19\" height=\"16\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/05\/20\/kennedy-maha-commission-report-chronic-disease-new-data-how-to-prioritize\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">STAT Plus: RFK Jr. declared war on chronic disease. First comes the battle over priorities<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Alysha, who said she is apolitical and does not vote, learned of Kennedy in the past year and was intrigued by his backstory as a public interest lawyer (and his gravelly voice). She\u2019s become interested in many of his arguments since. \u201cMaybe some could label me a conspiracy theorist, but I\u2019m open to learning,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd yeah, a lot of our industry\u2019s keeping us sick. And that\u2019s why I went holistic.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She has over time become skeptical of the safety of Covid vaccines and flu shots \u2014 notably, side effects such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2021\/07\/12\/jjs-covid-19-vaccine-may-trigger-neurological-condition-in-rare-cases-fda-says\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Guillain-Barr\u00e9 syndrome<\/a>, which remains extremely rare \u2014\u00a0so she opts out of both. Amber, on the other hand, recognized the value of vaccines after she had a baby during a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/flu\/whats-new\/2025-2026-influenza-activity.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">brutal flu season<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With a naive immune system and months to go before he could receive his first vaccines, her son was at higher risk of developing a severe fever. If that happened, he could have been hospitalized, and medical protocol would\u2019ve called for a spinal tap to test him for infection, she was told. \u201cKnowing that I held the keys, in a way, to preventing that \u2026 I\u2019m just going to make sure that what I\u2019m doing is protecting my baby,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She asked all family members to have updated shots against flu, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis before meeting him. If they didn\u2019t, they had to wear a mask, as was the case with Alysha.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a new mom, I think you\u2019re just\u2014,\u201d Alysha said.<\/p>\n<p>Amber cut her off: \u201cOverwhelmed? And terrified?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Amber initially liked the idea that MAHA was questioning the status quo, but some of the administration\u2019s decisions, like cutting funding for scientific research and federal health agencies, feel \u201cdangerous,\u201d she said. She also worries about the long-term impacts of the president and health officials tying vaccines to autism \u2014 an assertion that Kennedy has long promoted but that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/02\/03\/vaccine-autism-rfk-jr-how-science-proves-vaccines-do-not-cause-autism\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has been disproven<\/a> in large trials involving hundreds of thousands of children around the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA conversation was started, and it hasn\u2019t been finished,\u201d she said. At this point, \u201cpeople are talking past each other.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-1233672917-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1393432\"  \/>Anti-vaccine rally protesters gather outside of Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston in June 2021. Texas is home to one of the first political action committees in the nation that opposes to vaccine mandates.MARK FELIX\/AFP \/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>A city that embraces free thinkers\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In some ways, Texas\u2019 turn to MAHA has been a long time coming, starting in its capital: Austin. Beyond the state\u2019s conservative bona fides, the city has long had a reputation for doing things its own way \u2014 and an overall high quality of life \u2014 that in recent years attracted tech workers and other wealthy Californians fleeing liberal politics and income taxes. Many descended on Austin during the Covid pandemic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of free thinkers in Austin, on the left and the right,\u201d McCormick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Health policy, which historically coded as a liberal priority, hasn\u2019t been a major focus in the capitol. But once MAHA\u2019s star began to rise last summer, McCormick, a former chief of staff to the Texas railroad commissioner, saw an opening.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His own experience with relatives\u2019 health troubles had shaped his views. His mother, who had dealt with alcohol use disorder, had a stroke in 2012 and was disabled, making McCormick her caregiver; his father died from late-stage lung disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve just seen how cookie-cutter it is,\u201d he told STAT, explaining the ways in which health care has become depersonalized. \u201cI\u2019m not under some delusion that government can fix all this,\u201d he said, but he saw in MAHA a rare chance to make health care a bipartisan issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/photo-illo-MAHA-Seed-Oil-768x432.jpg\" class=\"attachment-article-main-medium-large size-article-main-medium-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/02\/12\/are-seed-oils-bad-for-you-examining-science-behind-claims-maha-movement-rfk\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What MAHA\u2019s crusade against seed oils reveals about flaws in America\u2019s food system<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the next legislative session, Make Texans Healthy Again will pursue bills that failed this year, like proposals to ban fluoride in drinking water, license naturopathic doctors, and expand nurse practitioners\u2019 scope of practice. Beyond that, the group will soft-launch some new ideas, too: pushing schools to prioritize fresh fruit and making sure no bills protecting pesticide manufacturers get passed, McCormick said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The pesticides bit is \u201cthe most divisive piece,\u201d he admitted. While Trump\u2019s environmental regulators have taken a relaxed approach to health hazards like pollution and agrochemicals, MAHA has been <a href=\"https:\/\/mcusercontent.com\/68c0b6df2c0ba84cc199317c3\/files\/47cf9a72-62f9-aaf0-0690-41d4d6f3e815\/Texas_Republicans_Support_Banning_Pesticides_2025_10_21.pdf?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">calling for a tougher stance<\/a> on herbicides like glyphosate, which is used in food production.<\/p>\n<p>Ideologically, McCormick\u2019s priorities, like MAHA\u2019s, are an odd mix. Some public health experts would likely take issue with the anti-fluoride and pro-meat bills, while celebrating more fresh produce in schools.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Austin is itself a place that embraces such fluidity. The matcha-sipping yogis, spiritual slackliners, and buff entrepreneurs bonding in saunas all tend to share a certain streak \u2014 individualistic, and politically mutable. In this way, they take after one of Austin\u2019s most famous residents: Joe Rogan, who moved to the area in 2020. In five years, the podcast star has, in small but notable ways, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2024\/10\/joe-rogan-austin-comedy-club\/679568\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">further transformed<\/a> the local culture.<\/p>\n<p>Many other charismatic and controversial figures have ties to the area: biohacker Dave Asprey, anti-vaccination activist and former Kennedy communications director Del Bigtree, the organ meat influencer \u201cLiver King,\u201d wellness entrepreneurs Aubrey Marcus and Mark Hyman, Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey, and HumanCo\u2019s Jason Karp, whose brands make pizza and ice cream for the health-conscious. Marcus hosted a fundraiser for Kennedy in Austin when the secretary was running for president.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Austin is the birthplace of Texans for Vaccine Choice, a powerful political action committee opposed to vaccine mandates \u2014 and one of the first such PACs in the nation. It\u2019s where similar groups have gotten organized, accrued real power, and polished tactics they can deploy around the country. (Children\u2019s Health Defense, the nonprofit Kennedy founded and led for years, is hosting its annual conference in Austin later this month.)<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Headshot2-768x432.jpg\" class=\"attachment-article-main-medium-large size-article-main-medium-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/themes\/stat\/images\/home\/statplus.svg\" width=\"19\" height=\"16\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/08\/08\/jessica-knurick-fights-maha-mom-misinformation\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">STAT Plus: How a Colorado dietitian became Instagram\u2019s top MAHA critic<\/a><\/p>\n<p>As a result, it\u2019s only become harder for public health advocates to pass favorable legislation in the state, or get lawmakers to offer full-throated support for vaccination.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cReally, the nation has just caught up with what we\u2019ve been dealing with in Texas for the past 10 years,\u201d said Rekha Lakshmanan, chief strategic officer for The Immunization Partnership, a nonprofit group that promotes vaccination as a public health strategy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/texaspolitics.utexas.edu\/blog\/texas-views-of-rfk-jr-and-vaccines-as-the-u-s-senate-confirms-kennedy-as-hhs-secretary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">December 2024 poll<\/a> found 72% of Texans thought the government should require parents to vaccinate their children. At least 70% of respondents thought vaccines were <a href=\"https:\/\/texaspolitics.utexas.edu\/set\/general-do-you-think-vaccines-are-safe-december-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">safe<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/texaspolitics.utexas.edu\/set\/general-do-you-think-vaccines-are-effective-december-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">effective<\/a>. Those numbers are still pretty high, but have slipped as hesitations about the Covid vaccine led some people to begin questioning all shots, Lakshmanan said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>On visits to communities, Lakshmanan says she most often gets questions from parents about where to get their children vaccinated. There is very little of the combative tone that dominates online discourse about vaccines, especially under Kennedy.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/09282025_STAT_Dallas_Farmers-Market_02-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1393888\"  \/>Texas Toothpaste creator Carlos Miller holds a jar of his product, which is advertised as a natural alternative to products already on the market, at the Dallas Farmers Market.Jamie Carrero for STAT<\/p>\n<p>A distrust of mainstream medicine\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If MAHA is about helping people to live healthier lives, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean the same thing to everyone.<\/p>\n<p>Take the question of how people manage their chronic health conditions. In a bougie Austin community, a cash-only clinic lets members, for about $300 per month, get quarterly blood tests and then have their plasma replaced with the crystal-clear human protein albumin. The center, called Humanaut, also offers IV drips, personal training, full-body workups, \u201celectromagnetic field therapy,\u201d and vibrating chairs to stimulate the nervous system.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Health care is leaning this way, at least for the rich. One year in, Humanaut has already opened a second clinic in Palm Beach Gardens, and is planning a third in Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>People \u201cdon\u2019t just want to go sit in a waiting room that\u2019s dirty. They want it to be personalized. They want it to be chic,\u201d said Shelby Fitzgerald, director of training and development at the Austin location.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Those who can\u2019t afford to upgrade their health care are shifting their practices in smaller ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AdobeStock_216220926-768x432.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-article-main-medium-large size-article-main-medium-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/wp-content\/themes\/stat\/images\/home\/statplus.svg\" width=\"19\" height=\"16\" alt=\"\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/10\/07\/tylenol-alternatives-surge-after-trump-autism-claims\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">STAT Plus: Parents are flocking to natural and \u2018clean medicine\u2019 brands. Medical experts are worried<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Army veteran Carlos Miller, 52, started stripping harsh chemicals and preservatives from his daily-use products after reading that they could interfere with medical treatments or accelerate chronic conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Miller has high blood pressure, and is trying to manage it without medication. His doctor recommended an ACE inhibitor, but Miller got spooked once he learned the commonly prescribed medications were developed in the 1970s from a compound found in snake venom. \u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019re having a snake bite you every day to lower your blood pressure, and that didn\u2019t sit well with me,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His doctor never counseled him on natural or lifestyle-based alternatives to the medication, Miller said. He got off the pills without talking to his physician about it. He didn\u2019t see the point.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not discounting or discrediting any medical professionals, but they got a job to do, and they\u2019re gonna do it inside of the confines of their own thinking. So they\u2019re gonna push the pill on you first,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s money in sickness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carolina Martinez, 70, has had her own chronic health issues.<\/p>\n<p>Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes \u2014 a condition she had never heard of \u2014 three decades ago, she\u2019s still resisting doctors\u2019 attempts to get her on insulin. She takes the medication metformin and tries to avoid foods that spike her blood sugar, like soda, flour tortillas, and rice. Her care is, by her estimation, not great. She shares Miller\u2019s skepticism of health care professionals. \u201cWe all know it: Doctors are just money, just money. We are numbers, numbers for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>None of her physicians have checked her legs or toes, she said, as is custom for diabetic patients since they are at higher risk of leg ulcers and amputations. She requested a referral to an eye doctor, since diabetes puts her at higher risk of glaucoma and other problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd the eye specialist always tells me that I\u2019m fine. And I, in the meantime, get more blind,\u201d she said, laughing. Martinez, who emigrated to the U.S. from Mexico in 1974, is retired and on Medicaid, \u201cgracias a Di\u00f3s.\u201d Lately, she\u2019s been watching a teacher on Facebook talk about how interpersonal conflict can lead to disease. She\u2019s trying to avoid arguments with her husband to see if it will help.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Idalia Medina\u2019s online searching has made her tighten her grip on her five children\u2019s health care. She works at a day care facility and her children are on Medicaid, so the family receives $148 each month in SNAP benefits. It doesn\u2019t go very far, but she still prioritizes healthy foods.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her son Matthew was diagnosed with autism about six years ago. Upon reading the claim that vaccines can cause the condition, she decided to delay vaccinating her children \u2014 against the advice of their pediatrician. (She also now avoids artificial food dyes, after reading that they can trigger behavioral changes.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to go through the same thing with my other kids,\u201d said Medina, 35. With Matthew, \u201cthere was a lot of evaluations, a lot therapies, and I had to move work. It was just so much, mentally. And I was just like, I can\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She hadn\u2019t heard of Kennedy or MAHA, but she did hear the Tylenol claims. Since she gives her children acetaminophen for fevers, the news made her scared again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWait, is it going to do it to the other kiddos?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/09282025_STAT_Dallas_Farmers-Market_07-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1393361\"  \/>Carolina Martinez was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes three decades ago and still resists doctors\u2019 attempts to get her on insulin. She takes the medication metformin and tries to avoid foods that spike her blood sugar.Jamie Carrero for STAT<\/p>\n<p>Cowboy mentality meets MAHA<\/p>\n<p>Worries take on a different shape in the tiny, rural towns that make up much of Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Alfredo Shirley, 73, brings in a meager living in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/10\/16\/maha-regenerative-agriculture-chef-turned-farmer-ryland-engelhart\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bandera<\/a>, selling roadside plates of barbecued chicken and brisket. Decades of hard physical labor, including loading cow carcasses onto hooks for processing, have left him with a damaged knee, shoulder, and back. He\u2019s had a half-dozen surgeries in the past year, including on blocked arteries in his legs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Because of all the procedures, Shirley got on Medicaid. If he had to guess, it all cost over $150,000.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, he developed a serious infection in his knuckle, he thinks from a venomous spider bite. Left untreated, his skin deteriorated to the point where his knuckle bone was protruding, and his middle finger turned black. He nearly lost it, Shirley said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He went twice to the hospital in Austin, a two-hour drive away, and ultimately to Houston Methodist, nearly four hours away, to get treated.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>People in rural Texas know these kinds of problems so well it can become a cowboy maxim: Rub some dirt on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even 30 minutes outside of Austin, Bastrop mayor Harris worries about how long it would take for an ambulance to get through congested Highway 71 traffic and to a major hospital during rush hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>There is a small hospital with an emergency room, and an urgent care center nearby, but Harris said it\u2019s not sufficient. His small city has a large population of older adults and veterans who often have to travel at least half an hour to a VA facility for specialty care. It\u2019s the same conundrum for people with serious injuries or illnesses.<\/p>\n<p>One of Harris\u2019 friends, whose son has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/coercive-care-sickle-cell-disease\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sickle cell disease<\/a>, has to go to Austin for his doctor\u2019s visits or bad pain crises. \u201cPeople who work locally don\u2019t make that much amount of money,\u201d Harris, 44, said. \u201cIf you\u2019re having to travel the road two, three days a week, you start having to make sacrifices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is challenging to envision how MAHA, which is still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/2025\/08\/25\/rfk-maha-1-year-momentum-cracks-forming\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">young and ill-defined<\/a>, will play out in a populous, complicated state like Texas. Even the effect of MAHA-backed laws will depend on how they are implemented. Physical activity requirements, for instance, vary by school district.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>McCormick of Make Texans Healthy Again doesn\u2019t want the movement to be overly zealous or prescriptive at the expense of being practical. The legislation he helped pass could drive major change in a decade if handled well, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>By then, his daughter, now 2, will be a preteen \u2014 and a case study. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to make sure I give her the best opportunity to succeed,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The fate of Texas\u2019 other 7.5 million children, and whether they usher in a healthier future for the state, is yet to be determined.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-size:17px\">STAT\u2019s coverage of chronic health issues is supported by a grant from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Bloomberg Philanthropies<\/a>. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statnews.com\/supporters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">financial supporters<\/a> are not involved in any decisions about our journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014\u00a0California has long been considered a kind of political fortuneteller, offering a preview of the policies&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,9381,13396,11564],"class_list":{"0":"post-32906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-austin","8":"tag-austin","9":"tag-austin-headlines","10":"tag-austin-news","11":"tag-chronic-disease","12":"tag-nutrition","13":"tag-rfk-jr"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}