Robert Kennedy's Anti-Vaccine Craziness

Robert Kennedy is obsessed with the notion that vaccines cause autism. He’s particularly obsessed with the discredited idea that thimerosal, a preservative used in some vaccines, causes autism. Now Kennedy is about to publish a new book on this topic, and he’s promoting it both in the press and, as described in today’s Washington Post, in the halls of Congress. He’s recently had personal meetings with U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Bernie Sanders to try to convince them to take action based on his claims. Why is it that a scientifically unqualified anti-vaccine advocate can get a private audience with a U.S. Senator? Because he’s famous, that’s why.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is part of the most famous family in America. He’s the nephew of a former president and the son of a former senator and Attorney General, both tragically assassinated in the 1960s. Another uncle, Edward Kennedy, was a U.S. Senator for Massachusetts for decades. He gives hundreds of speeches a year, mostly on environmental issues, and he’s been an influential figure in the environmental movement.

But on the thimerosal issue, Kennedy has gone completely off the rails. He authored a Salon.com and Rolling Stone article (jointly published) nearly ten years ago that claimed not only that thimerosal-containing vaccines cause autism, but that “the government” knew about it and had been covering it up. Kennedy wrote then that

“The story of how government health agencies colluded with Big Pharma to hide the risks of thimerosal from the public is a chilling case study of institutional arrogance, power and greed.”

Alarming-sounding stuff. The article is full of dramatic claims like this one. The only problem is, it’s all false.

I’ve been writing and speaking about the anti-vaccine movement for years, including articles in 2009 and 2010 on three landmark vaccine court rulings. As I explained back then:

“Why was thimerosal introduced into vaccines? Well, early vaccines were administered from multi-dose bottles, in which bacteria could grow. In one particularly disastrous incident in 1928, 12 children in Australia died from staph infections after getting the diptheria vaccine from the same multi-dose bottle. After the introduction of thimerosal, bacterial infections caused by vaccination virtually disappeared.”

In the late 2000's, a special vaccine court conducted three lengthy hearings in which the anti-vax advocates were asked to present their best cases. One of the cases focused specifically on the question of whether thimerosal in vaccines cause autism. In that case, the judge concluded:

“The numerous medical studies concerning the issue of whether thimerosal causes autism, performed by medical scientists worldwide, have come down strongly against the petitioners’ contentions. Considering all of the evidence, I find that the petitioners have failed to demonstrate that thimerosal-containing vaccines can contribute to the causation of autism.”

As a lawyer, Kennedy should be able to understand this. The science, which Kennedy apparently does not understand, leads to the same conclusion: in study after study, scientists have found no link between thimerosal and autism, or any other kind of neurological disorder. And as RFK Jr knows, thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines in the U.S. over a decade ago, and the rate of autism diagnosis continued to rise. This fact alone contradicts his major claim. 

What was shocking to me, the first time I heard Kennedy talk about thimerosal in vaccines, was how absolutely certain he is that he is right. Today's Washington Post article describes a man who remains utterly convinced, despite the mountain of evidence against him.

After Kennedy's Salon.com article appeared, scientists responded quickly and convincingly, pointing out its numerous flaws and distortions. Salon.com tried to fix the problem, issuing five corrections before throwing up their hands and removing the article entirely from their website. Rolling Stone also took down the article. Salon’s editor-in-chief wrote an apology, saying 

“I regret we didn’t move on this more quickly, as evidence continued to emerge debunking the vaccines and autism link. But continued revelations of the flaws and even fraud tainting the science behind the connection make taking down the story the right thing to do .”

Kennedy has steadfastly refused to admit any errors, ever. As of today, his own website still displays the original article, without even the small corrections that Salon.com had made. He’s been embraced by the anti-vaccine movement: he gave a keynote talk at their annual conference, Autism One (prompting this response from one well-known science blogger), and he even spoke at one of Jenny McCarthy’s “Green Our Vaccines” demonstrations.

As Keith Kloor wrote today in his online column at Discover, Kennedy has not only failed to convince the world that he’s right (and the entire scientific community is wrong), but he doesn’t really care. He told Kloor that “if I die poor, then I go down fighting for what’s right.” (This despite the ridiculousness of the notion that the wealthy Kennedy family will ever be poor.)

By ignoring the scientific evidence that shows that thimerosal and vaccines have no link to autism, Robert Kennedy has placed himself firmly in the camp of conspiracy theorists and cranks. He’s also demonstrated breathtaking arrogance. He believes that despite his lack of scientific training, he knows the truth that every scientist who’s studied this issue has missed. 

Even worse, Kennedy is using his fame to spread anti-vaccine misinformation, which has contributed to an alarming rise in the number of infectious disease outbreaks here in the U.S., including major outbreaks of measles and whooping cough. Though I doubt he will listen to me (he’s ignored everyone else), Kennedy needs to take a hard look at the harm he’s causing to defenseless children, the elderly, and cancer patients, and anyone else with a weak or compromised immune system. His advocacy of bad science will cost lives, if it hasn’t already.

When I've heard Kennedy talk about environmental topics, where I agree with him almost completely, I’ve been impressed by his passion and his seeming command of the issues. But having heard him speak about thimerosal and vaccines, I now realize that he’s a dangerous idealogue, willing to distort the truth so thoroughly I can’t believe a word he says. The only solace I can take from today’s Washington Post article is that Senators Mikulski and Sanders don’t believe him either. Both of them brushed him off. Next time, they shouldn’t bother giving him an audience.