This week, the US Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. His confirmation faced significant backlash from Democrats (a party he is a member of) and many in the medical and scientific community.
Now, you may ask why. Well, RFK Jr. is seen as the leading source for anti-vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories. He is the founder of the Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy organization, and the author of multiple books and articles using false or misrepresented medical data to make claims that vaccine use with children and autism are linked.
Many in the medical community worry that an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist in a position of power will spell doom for the health of the country. RFK Jr. claims he is not anti-vaccine but only pro-safety.
Let’s look into this controversy and see who is misrepresenting the facts.
What is Autism?
Autism, according to autismspeaks.org, is a “broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication,” and it affects 1 in 36 children and 1 in 45 adults in the US. They state the causes of Autism are genetic and environmental influences.
Vaccines, Autism and the origin of the controversy:
The origin of this controversy can be traced back to research done in 1998 by a physician at the Royal Free Hospital in London, England, named Andrew Wakefield. He published a paper in the medical journal Lancet claiming that a vaccine designed to prevent measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) caused “behavioral regression and developmental disorder in children.”
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Academics questioned the study due to its “uncontrolled design and the speculative nature of the conclusions.” Still, the report made global news and reportedly caused a drop in vaccination rates due to parents’ fears of harming their children.
Later that same year, The Lancet retracted the paper, saying “several elements are incorrect, contrary to the findings of an earlier investigation.”
How does RFK Jr. tie into this?
In 2005, Rolling Stone magazine and the Salon posted an online article by RFK Jr piggybacking off Wakefield’s discredited research titled “Deadly Immunity,” in which he claimed there was a “convinced that the link between thimerosal and the epidemic of childhood neurological disorders is real.” The piece was supposal fact-checked by Rolling Stone, but a few days after publishing it, both outlets had to make significant corrections and were expunged from the internet altogether. (Seriously, I can’t find it anywhere.)
The article’s most significant misstatement was that mercury levels in vaccines given to children were 187 times greater than the EPA’s limit for daily exposure to methylmercury but are given 187 micrograms, which is only 40% higher than the daily recommended dose.
Despite its retraction, the article launched RFK Jr. into the national spotlight. He even started his political action committee, Children’s Health Defense, ‘ which advocates against vaccinations for children.
What media persuasion tactics were used to advance the anti-vax agenda?
According to ‘The Language of Persuasion,’ the goal of media “is to persuade the audience to believe or do something,” in the controversy surrounding vaccines and autism, media is used to a chilling effect.
It was discovered that Wakefield stood to make a financial gain of “more than $43 million a year from diagnostic kits.” He created a demand for his product by manipulating The Lancet and its reader base to cash in. Wakefield used his status as a trusted expert in the field of medical research, making explicit claims that vaccines cause autism and the fear surrounding the unknown causes of the medical condition to profit from the public trust.
Even today, despite the retraction, millions still believe there is a connection between the two. Wakefield still uses his status to persuade the public by making documentaries and meeting with influential politicians.
RFK Jr. persuades and manipulates people using his celebrity lineage as a member of the prestigious Kennedy family. Using his famous last name, he quickly grabs the public’s attention. He uses the trust associated with his family name to give credibility to his claims even though RFK Jr. has no professional medical education.
Like Wakefield, RFK Jr uses fear of the unknown origins of Autism to manipulate the public, but not for a financial payout. RFK Jr is looking for a following to advance his political career.
So, where does that leave us?
RFK Jr.’s misinformation and manipulation of the media have paid off. He is now the head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Many feel this could end science-based health care as we know it. RFK Jr has stated that he has no interest in banning vaccines, only educating people about them, and no longer wishes to be associated with the anti-vax moment.
Well, we must wait and see how this all works out.