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. In turn, RFK gave that task to David Geier -- a notorious antivaxxer who does not have a medical or graduate degree.
Christina JewettEmily Baumgaertner Nunn and Sheryl Gay Stolberg at NYT:
David Geier’s new government role has stunned public health experts, who had already expressed concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s decisions to cancel a long-held vaccine meeting and to cut grants focused on understanding vaccine hesitancy.
In addition, David Geier’s involvement in government research heightens their fears that vaccine confidence could be further eroded, especially after Mr. Kennedy’s recent embrace of questionable alternative treatments for measles during the sprawling outbreak in Texas.
“If we increase vaccine hesitancy and immunization rates go down further, we will see more vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks,” said Dr. Christopher Beyrer, director of the Duke Global Health Institute. “That’s how it works.”
Several experts said that appointing David Geier to work on a study of vaccine safety preordains the outcome — like having a basketball referee show up in one team’s jersey.
...
The Senate confirmed Mr. Kennedy largely because he won over the chairman of the Senate health committee, Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, who is a medical doctor and strong proponent of childhood vaccines.
Mr. Cassidy has said that further research into any supposed link between vaccines and autism would be a waste of money and a distraction from studies that might shed light on the “true reason” for the rise in autism rates.
On Thursday, Mr. Cassidy said he wanted confirmation of David Geier’s role, aside from news reports. He mentioned that he had breakfast with Mr. Kennedy on Thursday but said the topic did not come up.
The story appeared in The Washington Post on Tuesday night. If Cassidy did not see it, surely his staff did. So either his denial is disingenuous or he was too cowardly to raise the topic.
Doctors in West Texas are seeing measles patients whose illnesses have been complicated by an alternative therapy endorsed by vaccine skeptics including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary.
Parents in Gaines County, Texas, the center of a raging measles outbreak, have increasingly turned to supplements and unproven treatments to protect their children, many of whom are unvaccinated, against the virus.
One of those supplements is cod liver oil containing vitamin A, which Mr. Kennedy has promoted as a near miraculous cure for measles. Physicians at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, say they’ve now treated a handful of unvaccinated children who were given so much vitamin A that they had signs of liver damage.
