Robert F Kennedy Jr pushes misinformation about the HPV vaccine
Robert F Kennedy Jr is pushing 25 false claims about the cancer-preventing HPV vaccine. He should never be trusted with respect to vaccines.
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Children’s Health Defense
The anti-vaccine antitrust lawsuit — bad claims
Debunking a new antitrust lawsuit from Robert F Kennedy’s anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense.
Vaccine consent for minors — Federal judge puts DC law on hold
This article about a DC law that allowed vaccine consent for minors was written by Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco, CA), who is a frequent contributor to this and many other blogs, providing in-depth, and intellectually stimulating, articles about vaccines, medical issues, social policy, and the law.
Professor Reiss writes extensively in law journals about the social and legal policies of vaccination. Additionally, Reiss is also a member of the Parent Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, a parent-led organization that supports and advocates for on-time vaccination and the reduction of vaccine-preventable diseases. She is also a member of the Vaccines Working Group on Ethics and Policy.
On March 18, 2022, a federal district judge — Judge Trevor N. McFadden — issued a preliminary injunction, that is, an order putting on hold DC’s law allowing minors to consent to a vaccine. The judge did it based on a flawed reading of the federal law the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA), and although the federal law the judge was interpreted was passed at a time when multiple states allowed minors to consent to medical treatments, including vaccines, and the law nowhere indicated that it intended to deny states the power to allow minors to do that.
In doing so, the judge helped anti-vaccine activists reduce the choices available to teens in DC, and barred teens from being able to protect themselves from disease, putting them at risk with no real benefit (except to anti-vaccine activists who could use the decision to claim a win, and who quickly turned it to increase fundraising).
If the decision is not overturned on appeal and other judges follow this very flawed reasoning, other minor consent laws – many of them longstanding – could be put at risk.
Read More »Vaccine consent for minors — Federal judge puts DC law on hold
Robert F Kennedy Jr makes good money pushing anti-vaccine nonsense
Robert F Kennedy Jr. has used his name and anti-vaccine disinformation campaign to make some serious money. Kennedy and his anti-vaccine falsehoods have been a subject of my writing for years now, but I think everyone should know what he is — another grifter making money by championing anti-vaccine nonsense.
Kennedy was a fairly good environmental lawyer many years ago, still trading on his name and connections. I find it ironic that he was all about science when it comes to environmental issues like climate change, but he simply denies all science when it comes to vaccines. Of course, his family isn’t happy with his anti-vaccine drivel, and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, was appalled by his anti-semitic references regarding Anne Frank and vaccine mandates. What is it with anti-vaxxers and anti-semitic fascism?
Let’s take a look at how Kennedy has profited from his anti-vaccine claptrap. I’m sure it will be enlightening.
Read More »Robert F Kennedy Jr makes good money pushing anti-vaccine nonsense
University of California flu vaccine order – anti-vaxxers court challenge
This article regarding the University of California flu vaccine executive order, and a subsequent anti-vaccine activist court challenge, was written by Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco, CA), who is a frequent contributor to this and many other blogs, providing in-depth, and intellectually stimulating, articles about vaccines, medical issues, social policy, and the law.
Professor Reiss writes extensively in law journals about the social and legal policies of vaccination. Additionally, Reiss is also a member of the Parent Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, a parent-led organization that supports and advocates for on-time vaccination and the reduction of vaccine-preventable disease.
An anti-vaccine organization brought a lawsuit against the University of California’s Executive Order “strongly recommending” flu vaccines for most students, faculty, and staff and mandating it for a specific sub-set. With one possible exception that I am less familiar with, but that the University responded strongly to, the complaint’s claims are unfounded and should be dismissed.Read More »University of California flu vaccine order – anti-vaxxers court challenge
Children’s Health Defense anti-vaccine attack on Paul Offit – this again
Maybe you don’t know much about Children’s Health Defense, but it’s a newer anti-vaccine group run by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has become one of the high priests of the anti-vaccine religion. RFK Jr., scion of the Kennedy family who dominated US politics for decades, has gone off the deep end of conspiracies from the assassinations of his father, Robert F. Kennedy, and uncle, John F. Kennedy, to the discredited belief that vaccines cause autism.
Children’s Health Defense, as a proxy for RFK Jr.’s lunatic beliefs about vaccines, decided to utilize ad hominem attacks on Dr. Paul Offit as part of their offensive against vaccines. Why? Because the anti-vaccine crackpots lack any evidence of any of their claims, so the best they can do is attack people with childish name-calling and logical fallacies. If this wasn’t about saving children’s lives with safe and effective vaccines, I’d just laugh at these people. They are ridiculous members of a lunatic fringe.
Although I’m not going to waste your time tearing apart each absurd attack they make on Dr. Offit, I’ll tackle a few. For educational purposes only!Read More »Children’s Health Defense anti-vaccine attack on Paul Offit – this again