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 helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
He is now Trump's secretary of HHS. Trump has directed him to investigate autism.
RFK has reportedly picked David Geier to lead the study. Steven Novella at Science-Based Medicine:
Well, just as Trump found the worst possible person to head HHS, RFK Jr has apparently found the worst possible person to head such a study – David Geier.
David Geier is not a doctor or a scientist (and in fact was charged with practicing medicine without a license). He often works with his father Mark Geier, who is a doctor. The pair have a history of publishing horrible fatally flawed studies of vaccines. They are the kings of the “dumpster divers”. They have also promoted dubious treatments for their fake causation.
The choice of Geier to analyze the data in a new study looking for a link between vaccines and autism makes it perfectly clear what RFK Jr. goal is in pushing for such a study. It is not to build or shore up the consensus (which doesn’t need shoring up). It is not to gather data that is higher quality or more reliable than existing data. If that were the goal then you would tap someone who has extreme qualifications, who could assemble a team of the best and brightest, and whose objectivity is beyond question.
Tapping David Geier tells us everything we need to know – this is a hit job. In my opinion, Geier has zero credibility in the scientific community due to his long history of crankery in this area. He is not qualified as is evidenced by a long history of shoddy science and discredited conclusions.
