Bari Weiss's new CBS hires include 'germ theory denialist' doctor

[applegrove]

Bari Weiss’s new CBS hires include ‘germ theory denialist’ doctor

Dr Mark Hyman, who claimed he reduced his biological age by 20 years, brought on as a contributor

Jason Wilson
Thu 29 Jan 2026 13.00 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/29/bari-weiss-cbs-mark-hyman

Among the new hires at CBS announced by Bari Weiss is a doctor who has claimed that he has reduced his biological age by 20 years with therapies including cold plunges; that cod liver oil can treat autism and that conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia can be reversed with the kind of nutritional supplements he also sells on his online store.

Dr Mark Hyman, who has been called a “germ theory denialist” by the medical author Harriet Hall, and has been brought on as a contributor in Weiss’s revamping of CBS’s news division. He is perhaps the most prominent exponent of so-called “functional medicine” (FM), an alternative medicine that the oncological surgeon David Gorski has described as “pure quackery”.

Like some other moves at CBS, his hiring is likely to win favor with the Donald Trump administration.

Hyman is a longtime collaborator with health and human services secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, writing a preface for Kennedy’s 2014 book that argued for the removal of the preservative thimerosal from vaccines, and appearing alongside Kennedy in an upcoming documentary, Maha Uncensored. Hyman also co-authored a diet book with the evangelical pastor Rick Warren.

[sheshe2]

1. Perhaps they should just rename themselves...

for what they have become...Fox Lite.

[Disaffected]

2. Good grief,

the idiocracy marches on unabated.

[TheRickles]

3. To be fair, over 1000 medical practitioners (MD, DO, NP) have been certified in functional medicine.

The entire field of functional medicine (FM) shouldn't be dismissed out of hand based on pejorative labels from a "medical author" and "oncological surgeon" whose credentials are not mentioned. If you are curious about FM, research articles are posted on the website of their national organization. These articles were published in reputable, peer-reviewed journals, and the full range of FM research includes gold-standard randomized controlled studies and meta-analyses.

https://www.ifm.org/about/research