Robert Kennedy is obsessed with the notion that vaccines result in autism. He’s especially obsessed with the discredited idea that thimerosal, a preservative employed in some vaccines, leads to autism. Now Kennedy is about to publish a new book on this topic, and he’s marketing it each in the press and, as described in today’s Washington Submit, in the halls of Congress. He’s recently had individual meetings with U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Bernie Sanders to try to convince them to take action primarily based on his claims. Why is it that a scientifically unqualified anti-vaccine advocate can get a personal audience with a U.S. Senator? Due to the fact he’s well-known, that’s why.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is component of the most famous loved ones in America. He’s the nephew of a former president and the son of a former senator and Secretary of State, the two tragically assassinated in the 1960s. Another uncle, Edward Kennedy, was a U.S. Senator for Massachusetts for decades. He provides hundreds of speeches a year, primarily on environmental problems, and he’s been an influential figure in the environmental motion.
Robert Kennedy Jr. in Urbana, IL. (Photo credit score: Wikipedia)
But on the thimerosal situation, Kennedy has gone entirely off the rails. He authored a Salon.com and Rolling Stone article (jointly published) nearly ten years in the past that claimed not only that thimerosal-containing vaccines cause autism, but that “the government” knew about it and had been covering it up. Kennedy wrote then that
“The story of how government overall health agencies colluded with Massive Pharma to hide the hazards of thimerosal from the public is a chilling situation research of institutional arrogance, electrical power and greed.”
Alarming-sounding things. The post is complete of dramatic claims like this 1. The only dilemma is, it is all false.
I’ve been writing and speaking about the anti-vaccine movement for years, such as content articles in 2009 and 2010 on three landmark vaccine court rulings. As I explained back then:
“Why was thimerosal introduced into vaccines? Nicely, early vaccines were administered from multi-dose bottles, in which bacteria could expand. In 1 specifically disastrous incident in 1928, 12 kids in Australia died from staph infections right after obtaining the diptheria vaccine from the identical multi-dose bottle. Right after the introduction of thimerosal, bacterial infections induced by vaccination virtually disappeared.”
In the late 2000′s, a special vaccine court performed three lengthy hearings in which the anti-vax advocates had been asked to current their greatest instances. A single of the situations focused specifically on the question of whether thimerosal in vaccines result in autism. In that situation, the judge concluded:
“The quite a few health care research concerning the situation of no matter whether thimerosal triggers autism, performed by health-related scientists globally, have come down strongly against the petitioners’ contentions. Contemplating all of the evidence, I find that the petitioners have failed to show that thimerosal-containing vaccines can contribute to the causation of autism.”
As a attorney, Kennedy should be ready to understand this. The science, which Kennedy apparently does not comprehend, prospects to the very same conclusion: in examine soon after research, scientists have discovered no website link among thimerosal and autism, or any other sort of neurological disorder. And as RFK Jr is aware of, thimerosal was eliminated from childhood vaccines in the U.S. over a decade in the past, and the charge of autism diagnosis continued to rise. This truth alone contradicts his major claim.
What was shocking to me, the 1st time I heard Kennedy talk about thimerosal in vaccines, was how completely specific he is that he is proper. Today’s Washington Publish article describes a man who stays utterly convinced, regardless of the mountain of evidence towards him.
Soon after Kennedy’s Salon.com article appeared, scientists responded quickly and convincingly, pointing out its quite a few flaws and distortions. Salon.com tried to fix the difficulty, issuing 5 corrections before throwing up their hands and removing the write-up entirely from their web site. Rolling Stone also took down the article. Salon’s editor-in-chief wrote an apology, saying
“I regret we didn’t move on this more rapidly, as evidence continued to emerge debunking the vaccines and autism link. But continued revelations of the flaws and even fraud tainting the science behind the connection make taking down the story the right factor to do .”
Kennedy has steadfastly refused to admit any mistakes, ever. As of these days, his own website still displays the unique post, without even the small corrections that Salon.com had created. He’s been embraced by the anti-vaccine movement: he gave a keynote speak at their annual conference, Autism 1 (prompting this response from a single properly-known science blogger, and he even spoke at one of Jenny McCarthy’s “Green Our Vaccines” demonstrations.
As Keith Kloor wrote nowadays in his on the web column at Learn, Kennedy has not only failed to persuade the globe that he’s correct (and the entire scientific local community is incorrect), but he doesn’t really care. He informed Kloor that “if I die bad, then I go down fighting for what’s correct.” (This despite the ridiculousness of the notion that the wealthy Kennedy family members will ever be bad.)
By ignoring the scientific evidence that displays that thimerosal and vaccines have no link to autism, Robert Kennedy has positioned himself firmly in the camp of conspiracy theorests and cranks. He’s also demonstrated breathtaking arrogance. He believes that regardless of his lack of scientific coaching, he is aware of the truth that each and every scientist who’s studied this problem has missed.
Even worse, Kennedy is employing his fame to spread anti-vaccine misinformation, which has contributed to an alarming rise in the amount of infectious disease outbreaks here in the U.S., such as main outbreaks of measles and whooping cough. Even though I doubt he will pay attention to me (he’s ignored every person else), Kennedy demands to take a difficult search at the harm he’s creating to defenseless kids, the elderly, and cancer patients, and any individual else with a weak or compromised immune system. His advocacy of bad science will price lives, if it hasn’t already.
When I’ve heard Kennedy talk about environmental topics, exactly where I agree with him practically completely, I’ve been impressed by his passion and his seeming command of the issues. But obtaining heard him talk about thimerosal and vaccines, I now understand that he’s a unsafe idealogue, ready to distort the truth so extensively I cannot believe a word he says. The only solace I can consider from today’s Washington Post article is that Senators Mikulski and Sanders do not believe him both. Both of them brushed him off. Next time, they shouldn’t bother offering him an audience.
Robert Kennedy"s Harmful Anti-Vaccine Activism
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