RFK Jr. has set medicine in the United States back at least 50 years. Mr Kennedy continues to link autism to Tylenol and circumcision without scientific evidence. Instructed poultry farms to allow avian flu-infected animals to remain in the general population to identify which birds have a natural immunity to the disease. Failed to intercede in the Meales outbreak in Texas that spread rapidly through an unvaccinated Mennonite community.
And encouraged U.S. health policy to recommend that the MMR vaccine be administered in six doctor visits instead of two, thereby making it more difficult for people to get their full complement of this super-effective vaccine. How did RFK Jr. make these determinations that fly in the face of sound medical practices? Who influenced him to pursue these dangerous theories and promote them to the general public? Here are the profiles of some of Mr. Kennedy’s biggest influencers regarding health and medicine.
RFK Jr’s Biggest Influencer: Andrew Wakefield
RFK Jr’s biggest influencer regarding the splitting up of the MMR vaccine is a disgraced British physician named Andrew Wakefield. In 1998, Mr. Wakefield and 12 of his colleagues published an article in the British medical journal The Lancet, suggesting that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine increased the likelihood that recipients of this vaccine were more predisposed to contract autism and colitis.
Even though the sample size was small, the test being conducted was in an uncontrolled environment, and questions about the authenticity of the findings, MMR vaccine rates began to drop, demonstrating parents’ concerns about the aftereffects of the vaccine. Following the publication of this article, numerous epidemiological studies were conducted that concluded that there was no link between the MMR vaccine and autism. This was followed by a refutation of the study by 10 of Mr. Wakefield’s associates involved in the case series.
And Wakefield had also not come forward with a conflict of interest he had while conducting the case series. It turns out that the study had been funded by lawyers representing parents in lawsuits against vaccine-producing companies. Finally, in 2010, The Lancet retracted the complete study.
After that, Mr. Wakefield’s licence to practice medicine was revoked. The UK’s General Medical Council found him guilty of dishonesty, the “abuse” of developmentally delayed children by giving them unnecessary and invasive medical procedures and acting without ethical approval for his research.
RFK Jr. and Andrew Wakefield have often appeared together at anti-vaccination rallies, conferences, and film screenings, using these settings to promote their disproved theories on the dangers of vaccines. Last year, Mr. Wakefield produced a feature film, Protocol-7, which again claims the MMR vaccines are linked to several serious medical issues.
A Little Help from His Friends
Aaron Siri, a vaccine injury lawyer and prominent anti-vaccine activist, Del Bigtree are two other RFK Jr. advisors helping to guide his vaccination policy stances. Siri has joined Mr. Kennedy on numerous lawsuits over vaccines and has petitioned the FDA to revoke approvals for, or stop the distribution of, several vaccines.
On the day that President Trump warned women about taking Tylenol during pregnancy, Mr. Siri filed a petition asking the Food and Drug Administration to add more stern language on the drug’s label. He has also pushed for legal remedies to allow more people to avoid vaccinations for religious reasons.
Del Bigtree is the CEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network. His company produced the film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, which promoted the opinions of Andrew Wakefield, including the unsubstantiated connection between vaccines and autism. He previously served as communications director for RFK Jr’s bid for the White House and now leads Kennedy’s MAHA Alliance PAC and the related nonprofit MAHA Action.
Experts’ Warnings About RFK Jr.
Last week, six former Surgeons General submitted an op-ed piece published in The Washington Post, which heavily criticized RFK Jr’s leadership and management of the Department of Health and Human Services. The op-ed read in part.
“Never before have we issued a joint public warning like this. However, the profound, immediate, and unprecedented threat that Kennedy’s policies and positions pose to the nation’s health cannot be ignored. Under Mr. Kennedy, the foundations of our nation’s public health system have been undermined.”
They specifically were highly critical of RFK Jr’s management of the nation’s measles outbreaks, his recommendation against taking Tylenol during pregnancy, and his dismissal of all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel. for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel.
