An Insider’s View of RFK Jr. and the Risks to Public Health

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Virologist Dr. Paul Offit—coinventor of the rotavirus vaccine and a leading voice in countering misinformation about vaccines—describes his encounters with RFK Jr., some of the major falsehoods about vaccine safety, the larger issues of trust in medicine, and what he fears most.

Watch, listen or leave a comment. Scroll for references and click here for a complete transcript of Mona’s conversation with Dr. Offit.

REFERENCES:

* Dr. Paul Offit’s Books:

* Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All

* The Cutter Incident (about a polio vaccine gone wrong)

* Historical Vaccine References:

* The Cutter Incident (1950s polio vaccine failure)

* The history of polio, iron lungs, and the development of the Salk and Sabin vaccines.

* The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

* The impact of vaccines on childhood diseases like diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, and rotavirus.

* Andrew Wakefield and Vaccine-Autism Misinformation:

* Wakefield’s 1998 Lancet paper (later retracted) linking MMR vaccines to autism.

* The role of the Lancet and Rolling Stone in spreading misinformation.

* The legal and financial conflicts of interest that further discredited Wakefield.

* Anti-Vaccine Movement History:

* The Anti-Vaccination League (1800s opposition to smallpox vaccine).

* NBC’s DPT: Vaccine Roulette (1980s), which fueled fears about the whooping cough vaccine.

* RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine activism and misinformation campaigns.

* The impact of anti-vaccine movements in places like Samoa, leading to deadly measles outbreaks.

* Current Vaccine Issues and Policy Changes:

* RFK Jr.’s role in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and vaccine policy.

* The cancellation of this year’s meeting of the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee, which helps set the schedule for the annual flu vaccine.