In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.
A number of posts discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion.
Another leading anti-vaxxer is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Rolling Stone and Salon retracted an RFK article linking vaccines to autism. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
For decades, anti-vaccine groups have targeted thimerosal, a vaccine preservative that they claim, without credible evidence, is linked to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
These claims about the mercury-based preservative have long existed at the fringes — until now.
Under the leadership of the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy — who wrote a book supporting “the immediate removal of mercury” from vaccines — these claims are now to be seriously considered by newly appointed members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, an influential group that makes vaccine recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Thursday, the panel is expected to discuss and vote on the use of thimerosal in flu vaccines, the only routine shots that still include
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the additive. Instead of a C.D.C. scientist presenting on the subject, as is custom, Lyn Redwood, the former leader of a prominent anti-vaccine group, will speak to the committee.
Slides from that presentation, which were posted online ahead of the meeting, argue thimerosal is “neurotoxic” and harmful for pregnant women and children — claims that are contradicted by dozens of rigorous studies and have largely been rejected by vaccine scientists.
AT ABC, Will McDuffie and Dr. Jade Cobern report:
"To the best of my knowledge, the study in rats referred to in the planned CDC presentation by Lyn Redwood listing Berman RF as first author does not exist," Robert F Berman, Ph.D., professor emeritus at the University of California Davis, said.
"I have not published a paper with that title or with that set of co-authors in the journal Neurotoxicology in 2008. Also, none of my research has made any statements about possible thimerosal effects on microglia in the brain or resulting in neuroimmune effects," Berman said.
That citation has since been removed from the revised presentation online.
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At least one vaccine expert said she shuddered Wednesday at the idea of Redwood joining HHS.
Fiona Havers, a 13-year CDC veteran who worked on vaccine policy, told ABC News in a statement, “Lyn Redwood is well-known for spreading vaccine misinformation. It is troubling that Redwood may now have an official role within HHS and will potentially be in a position to interfere with official messaging about vaccine safety.”
ABC News has reached out to Redwood for a comment.
Redwood and Kennedy have long been close. In a conversation between the two of them on Kennedy’s podcast last year, Kennedy credited Redwood with being the figure who “coordinated” the “stalking crusade” by mothers who convinced Kennedy to begin looking into the potential harms of vaccines in the early 2000s.
