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 top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
A shooting outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Atlanta headquarters on Friday left a police officer dead and officials and scientists at the nation’s premier public health agency shaken. Many are now demanding answers from their health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long vilified the CDC and contributed to a culture of misinformation that they say makes them targets.
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CDC Director Susan Monarez convened an online all-hands meeting of the agency division that focuses on vaccines — the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
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One employee described the shooting as “the culmination of ongoing animosity toward CDC and the work that we do — not a one-off incident.” Another named Kennedy in a comment that drew dozens of supportive emoji reactions, writing: “We need them to stop fanning the flames of hatred against us, stop spreading misinformation. We will not be safe until they stop their attacks against us.”
For years, Kennedy attacked the CDC. In videos from anti-vaccine conferences between 2013 and 2019, he likened the agency’s vaccine work to “fascism” and “child abuse,” called it a “cesspool of corruption” and said it was filled with profiteers. At a 2013 conference, when asked about why the CDC had failed to acknowledge the autism epidemic (which he falsely linked to vaccines), Kennedy said it was like the Holocaust. On at least two occasions, Kennedy has apologized for comparing agencies, officials and public health measures to the Holocaust. During the pandemic, Kennedy repeatedly framed the CDC and other HHS agencies as “corrupt,” falsely suggested Covid-19 was a “bioweapon,” and lied about the dangers of Covid vaccines, calling them “the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
Maya Goldman at AXios:
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to cut federal funding for mRNA vaccine research is the latest in a series of moves that have the potential to crush future medical breakthroughs and accelerate a brain drain.
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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to cut federal funding for mRNA vaccine research is the latest in a series of moves that have the potential to crush future medical breakthroughs and accelerate a brain drain.
- Kennedy is working to implement massive staff cuts at HHS, reduce funding for research labs' overhead costs and end National Institutes of Health grants for a wide swath of projects.
- The cuts, along with the broader Trump administration's immigration restrictions, has already started to steer promising international scientific talent away from the country.
- Kennedy also is reportedly considering overhauling the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, whose independent experts establish care and coverage guidelines to account for advances in medical treatments and new disease trends. Its past work included recommending beginning mammograms at 40, which has been credited with saving thousands of lives.
