Tatiana Schlossberg slams 'embarrassment' cousin RFK Jr as she reveals terminal cancer diagnosis
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: JFK’s granddaughter, Tatiana Schlossberg, published an essay with The New Yorker, revealing her terminal cancer diagnosis.
As she revealed details of her ongoing battle with acute myeloid Leukemia, she criticized her cousin, Robert F Kennedy Jr’s policies as health secretary.
Tatiana recalled her cousin as he “slashed billions in funding from the National Institutes of Health” and “threatened to oust” a panel of medical experts who recommended preventive cancer screenings.
Tatiana Schlossberg chimes in on RFK Jr funding mRNA vaccines
In her essay, Tatiana recalled discovering her cousin, whom she referred to as Bobby, being confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Services in February 2025. She wrote that RFK Jr was confirmed “despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government.”
Tatiana added that at the time, she was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to get her vaccines, since her cousin was a “known skeptic of vaccines.” She worried about herself and other cancer survivors, children, and the elderly.
“As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors, nurses, and researchers striving to improve the lives of others, I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines, technology that could be used against certain cancers,” she wrote.
Tatiana further blamed her cousin for the cancellation of “hundreds of NIH grants and clinical trials." She added that she was worried about the funding required for leukemia and bone-marrow research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, New York.
JFK’s granddaughter revealed that the drug used for her chemotherapy, cytarabine, came from an ocean animal, Tectitethya Crypta. It was first synthesized as a drug in 1959 by scientists at the University of Berkeley.
“Who almost certainly relied on government funding, the very first thing that Bobby has already cut,” Tatiana added. “Throughout my treatment, he had been on the national stage: previously a Democrat, he was running for president as an Independent, but mostly as an embarrassment to me and the rest of my immediate family.”
Tatiana Schlossberg recalls aftermath of RFK Jr's confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services
In the essay, Tatiana said that at the time, the healthcare system that she relied on “felt strained” and “shaky.” She added that doctors at Columbia, including her husband, George Moran, were unsure if they’d be able to continue their research or hold their jobs.
She said that she didn’t know if they’d be able to get medical insurance if her husband had changed jobs, and she was concerned about getting her required doses of vaccinations.
She further criticized RFK Jr’s skepticism of vaccines.
“Bobby probably doesn’t remember the millions of people who were paralyzed or killed by Polio before the vaccine was available,” she said.
