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 presidential candidate 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 is now Trump's nominee to head HHS.
A letter from 77 Nobel laureates:
We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, are writing to ask you to oppose the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
The proposal to place Mr. Kennedy in charge of the federal agencies responsible for protecting the health of American citizens and for conducting the medical research that benefits our country and the rest of humanity has been widely criticized on multiple grounds. In addition to his lack of credentials or relevant experience in medicine, science, public health, or administration, Mr. Kennedy has been an opponent of many health-protecting and life-saving vaccines, such as those that prevent measles and polio; a critic of the well-established positive effects of fluoridation of drinking water; a promoter of conspiracy theories about remarkably successful treatments for AIDS and other diseases; and a belligerent critic of respected agencies (especially the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health). The leader of DHHS should continue to nurture and improve--- not threaten---these important and highly respected institutions and their employees.
In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine America's global leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial sectors.
We strongly urge you to vote against the confirmation of his appointment as Secretary of the DHHS.
77 Nobel Laureates in Medicine , Chemistry, Physics, and Economics
Name Category Prize Year
- Peter Agre Chemistry 2003
- Louis E. Brus Chemistry 2023
- Thomas R. Cech Chemistry 1989
- Martin Chalfie Chemistry 2008
- Elias James Corey Chemistry 1990
- Johann Deisenhofer Chemistry 1988
- Joachim Frank Chemistry 2017
- Walter Gilbert Chemistry 1980
- Alan Heeger Chemistry 2000
- Roald Hoffmann Chemistry 1981
- Brian K. Kobilka Chemistry 2012
- Roger D. Kornberg Chemistry 2006
- Robert J. Lefkowitz Chemistry 2012
- Paul L. Modrich Chemistry 2015
- William E. Moerner Chemistry 2014
- Venkatraman Ramakrishnan Chemistry 2009
- Richard R. Schrock Chemistry 2005
- Daron Acemoglu Economics 2024
- George A. Akerlof Economics 2001
- Peter A. Diamond Economics 2010
- Robert F. Engle III Economics 2003
- Lars Peter Hansen Economics 2013
- Sir Oliver Hart Economics 2016
- Simon Johnson Economics 2024
- Finn E. Kydland Economics 2004
- Eric S. Maskin Economics 2007
- William D. Nordhaus Economics 2018
- Edmund S. Phelps Economics 2006
- Harvey J. Alter Medicine 2020
- VictorAmbros Medicine 2024
- David Baltimore Medicine 1975
- J. Michael Bishop Medicine 1989
- Elizabeth H. Blackburn Medicine 2009
- William C. Campbell Medicine 2015
- Mario R. Capecchi Medicine 2007
- Joseph L. Goldstein Medicine 1985
- Carol W. Greider Medicine 2009
- Jeffrey Connor Hall Medicine 2017
- Leland H. Hartwell Medicine 2001
- H. Robert Horvitz Medicine 2002
- Louis J. Ignarro Medicine 1998
- David Julius Medicine 2021
- Eric R. Kandel Medicine 2000
- Ardem Patapoutian Medicine 2021
- Stanley B. Prusiner Medicine 1997
- Charles M. Rice Medicine 2020
- Sir Richard J. Roberts Medicine 1993
- Michael Rosbash Medicine 2017
- Gary Ruvkun Medicine 2024
- RandyW. Schekman Medicine 2013
- Gregg L. Semenza Medicine 2019
- Hamilton O. Smith Medicine 1978
- Jack W. Szostak Medicine 2009
- Susumu Tonegawa Medicine 1987
- Harold E. VarmusMedicine 1989
- Drew Weissman Medicine 2023
- Eric F. Wieschaus Medicine 1995
- Torsten N. Wiesel Medicine 1981
- Michael W.Young Medicine 2017
- Barry Clark Barish Physics 2017
- Steven Chu Physics 1997
- John F. Clauser Physics 2022
- Jerome I. Friedman Physics 1990
- Sheldon Glashow Physics 1979
- David J. Gross Physics 2004
- John L. Hall Physics 2005
- J. Michael Kosterlitz Physics 2016
- Anthony J. Leggett Physics 2003
- John C. Mather Physics 2006
- James Peebles Physics 2019
- H. David Politzer Physics 2004
- Joseph H. Taylor Jr. Physics 1993
- Kip Stephen Thorne Physics 2017
- Daniel C. Tsui Physics 1998
- Rainer Weiss Physics 2017
- Robert Woodrow Wilson Physics 1978
- David J. Wineland Physics 2012
