Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Deadly Obsession
Vaccines have saved millions of lives. But for decades, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pursued a single-minded crusade against them. Numerous scientific studies have debunked his false claim that vaccines cause autism. But now he’s weaponizing the nation’s public health system to promote his ideological quackery.
Once a Crackpot, Always a Crackpot – But Now Possessing the Power of Life and Death
In a 2021 podcast, Kennedy urged Americans to “resist” CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines.
In 2021, Kennedy said, “I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, better not get them vaccinated.”
In a video promoting his non-profit organization’s anti-vaccine sticker campaign, Kennedy appeared onscreen next to a sticker that declared “IF YOU’RE NOT AN ANTI-VAXXER YOU AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION.”
In a July 2023 podcast, he said, “There’s no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a physician, knows that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine claims are bogus. But Kennedy assured him that he would protect “the public health benefit of vaccinations” and maintain without changes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). That committee of outside experts reviews the most recent data on all vaccines to assess safety, efficacy, and clinical need. It develops a recommended guidance schedule for all vaccines, including seasonal flu shots and COVID boosters. Physicians rely on that guidance in counseling patients, and insurance companies and government programs use it to determine the vaccines they will cover.
Based on Kennedy’s promises, Sen. Cassidy cast the deciding vote to confirm him as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Timeline of Destruction
In RFK Jr.’s mission to spread his lies, he has systematically gutted the world’s premier public health organization.
In March, Kennedy announced that he would conduct a study to find the cause of autism by September – an absurd mission with a nonsensical end date.
Leading his autism “study” is David Geier, a discredited vaccine skeptic who isn’t a physician. In 2012, the Maryland State Board of Physicians pursued charges against Geier, alleging that he had engaged in the unlicensed practice of medicine while working on autistic kids with his father, who was a physician at the time. His father’s medical license was suspended following claims that he had “endangered autistic children and exploited their parents by administering a treatment protocol that has a known substantial risk of serious harm and which is neither consistent with evidence-based medicine nor generally accepted in the relevant scientific community.”
Paging Sen. Cassidy
On August 25, Kennedy demanded that newly-confirmed CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez fire career CDC officials and commit to........
© Common Dreams
