David Mansdoerfer

David Mansdoerfer is the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health and currently serves as an adjunct professor in health policy and politics at Pepperdine University School of Public Policy.

Modernizing America’s Health Care System Starts With Early Detection

Commentary Chronic disease is driving costs, crushing families, and overwhelming public programs. And yet Medicare—the backbone of health ...

Viewpoints April 22, 2026
ACIP Must Expand Its COVID Prevention Toolkit—Our Children’s Health Depends on It

Commentary When the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) convenes on March 18, it will have a rare ...

Opinion March 13, 2026
Science First: How the FDA Has the Blueprint to Safeguard Vaping

Enforcement actions alone—raids on stores or seizures at ports—cannot resolve a crisis that the FDA's own policies have ...

Viewpoints January 28, 2026
Make America Healthy Again: End the $800 Eye Drop Racket

These aren’t left-wing or right-wing ideas. They’re pro-patient, pro-taxpayer, and pro-common sense.

Viewpoints November 19, 2025
Don’t Let Communist China Poison Our Path to a Healthier America

Commentary Communist China isn’t just trying to compete with the United States in pharmaceuticals—it’s trying to overtake us. ...

Opinion August 6, 2025
It’s Time to Fix FindTreatment.gov, a Lifeline for Behavioral Health That’s Falling Short

Commentary In the United States, millions grapple with substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health (MH) challenges, yet ...

Viewpoints July 1, 2025
Tackling Chronic Disease With Credibility, Not Hysteria

Commentary America faces a growing crisis in chronic disease. Obesity affects 41.9 percent of adults and 20.6 percent ...

Viewpoints June 21, 2025
The Corruption of Medical Education by Protocol-Driven Medicine

This article was updated on July 14, 2025, based on significant revisions submitted by the author. These changes ...

Viewpoints June 18, 2025
The Ripple Effect of Dietary Guidelines on US Food Policy

Commentary Every five years, the departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services release the Dietary Guidelines for ...

Viewpoints June 9, 2025
Remaking K–12 Health Classes for a Healthier America

Commentary America’s kids are navigating a health crisis, and our outdated K–12 health classes aren’t helping. With childhood ...

Viewpoints June 1, 2025
In a MAHA-Driven Healthcare System, Patients Should Have Access to the Full Spectrum of a Chiropractor’s Skills

Commentary The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) initiative, championed by Secretary Kennedy, calls for a return to holistic, ...

Viewpoints May 25, 2025
Improving Public Health

Commentary Once a field grounded in data, experimentation, and skepticism, public health has morphed into something resembling a ...

Viewpoints May 19, 2025
Defining Success: Trump and Kennedy’s Path to Winning on Health in 2026

Commentary As President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. chart the course ...

Viewpoints May 16, 2025
Trump’s Skinny Budget: A Bold Prescription for a Healthier HHS

Commentary President Donald Trump’s skinny budget for fiscal year 2026, is a game-changer for the Department of Health ...

Viewpoints May 8, 2025
Why Kennedy’s Health Reforms Shine in Trump’s Honeymoon, With Bigger Wins Ahead

Commentary The first 100 days of a presidency, known as the honeymoon period, are a high-stakes sprint. Armed ...

Viewpoints April 29, 2025
Why RFK’s Moves as Health Secretary Matter: This Week’s Roundup

Commentary Introduction As the former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health in the first Trump administration, I’ve seen the ...

Viewpoints April 22, 2025