RFK Jr and health agency falsely claim MMR vaccine includes ‘aborted fetus debris'
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and his department have made a series of misleading statements that alarmed vaccine experts and advocates in recent days – including that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine includes 'aborted fetus debris'.
Health department officials released statements saying they could alter vaccine testing and build new 'surveillance systems' on Wednesday, both of which have unnerved experts who view new placebo testing as potentially unethical.
'It's his goal to even further lessen trust in vaccines and make it onerous enough for manufacturers that they will abandon it,' said Dr Paul Offit, an expert on infectious disease and immunology and director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, about the statements and Kennedy. 'It's a fragile market.'
In this same week, Kennedy extolled parents to 'do their own research' in a talk show interview – the phrase has become pop culture shorthand for a shallow internet search that casts people into the arms of the disinformation ecosystem.
'All new vaccines will undergo safety testing in placebo-controlled trials prior to licensure – a radical departure from past practices,' an HHS spokesperson told the Washington Post, in response to questions about general vaccine policy and the measles vaccine. The department did not clarify what it meant by 'new vaccine'.
The department spokesperson also described new surveillance systems for vaccines, 'that will accurately measure vaccine risks as well as benefits – because real science demands both transparency and accountability', but did not elaborate on the design of those systems.
Prior to being confirmed to the role of health secretary, Kennedy was arguably the nation's most prominent anti-vaccine advocate and led a non-profit known for prolific misinformation. He also earned money by referring clients to law firms suing vaccine makers.
Among the claims Kennedy spread was that medications cause 'autoimmune injuries and allergic injuries and neurodevelopmental injuries that have long diagnostic horizons or long incubation periods, so you can do the study and you will not see the injury for five years', he said in an interview in 2021, according to reporting by the Post.
Kennedy also claimed this week that the MMR vaccine includes 'aborted fetus debris'. The rubella vaccine, like many vaccines, is produced using decades-old sterile fetal cell lines derived from two elective terminations in the 1960s, including the rubella vaccine.
Vaccines against new pathogens, such as Covid-19, are placebo tested. However, experts consider new placebo-controlled trials for long-time vaccines, for instance measles, to be unethical because it would effectively deny a patient a known intervention while potentially exposing them to a dangerous disease.
'No institutional review board at any academic center would ever accept that – so he's asking what personal injury lawyer invariably asks for, which is the impossible to be done,' said Offit.
Although Kennedy has made false and misleading statements about vaccines generally, the Covid-19 vaccine appears to be especially in the administration's crosshairs.
In response to recent questions about Covid-19 strategy from the Guardian, the administration responded: 'The Covid-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.'
Health officials have reportedly required all research grant applications on messenger RNA technology, which powers most Covid-19 vaccines, be flagged to Kennedy's office. They have also ended research that tested for the Covid-19 vaccine's safety and efficacy in special groups, such as pregnant women, as part of an $11bn clawback in grants from states.
Most controversially, the Food and Drug Administration has delayed expected approval of a new Covid-19 vaccine from Novavax, reportedly on the review of a political appointee known to be skeptical of vaccines.
Over the weekend, FDA commissioner Marty Makary addressed the delay by describing annual updates to the vaccine's strains as a 'new' product, creating confusion about whether vaccine makers have to conduct new safety and efficacy trials. Such trials would not be a normal part of routine updates.
On Monday, the company released a statement that said in part the FDA had demanded a clinical trial as part of post-approval surveillance, and that it would continue to work with the FDA.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
21 minutes ago
- Telegraph
RFK Jr appoints new vaccine committee – including vaccine sceptic doctor
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has appointed a new vaccine advisory panel, including a medical doctor who has claimed that Covid vaccines 'may damage [children's] brains, their heart, their immune system, and their ability to have children in the future.' The move comes just two days after the US health secretary unprecedentedly dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the body responsible for advising on vaccine recommendations to prevent and control diseases. Of the eight new members, four have actively spoken out against vaccination in some form. The most controversial pick is Dr Robert Malone, a prominent opponent of mRNA vaccines who also falsely claims to have invented the technology. While Dr Malone was involved in some of the early research on mRNA, his role was minimal at best, say experts. Dr Malone has previously stated that mass vaccination programs during the pandemic were enabled by 'mass formation psychosis,' an unrecognised medical term he coined, which he says also explains how Nazi Germany carried out the Holocaust. He was temporarily banned from X (formerly Twitter) for spreading misinformation about Covid-19, including claims that mRNA vaccines are experimental gene therapy that could cause irreparable harm, particularly to children. Also on the panel is Dr Martin Kulldorff, a former Harvard Medical School professor who was dismissed from his position in 2024. Dr Kulldorff was a key figure in the Great Barrington Declaration, an open letter published in 2020 that opposed widespread lockdowns and was widely criticised by experts as dangerous and anti-scientific. Of the panel, which includes Joseph Hibbeln, Retsef Levi, Cody Meissner, James Pagano, Vicky Pebsworth and Michael Rossm, four who have previously worked on committees associated with either the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), or the Food and Drug Administration. 'All of these individuals are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense,' Mr Kennedy said in a post on X. It's not clear what process these figures went through, but it typically takes more than a year to be appointed to a federal advisory panel. Dr Noel Brewer, a professor in public health at the University of North Carolina who was a member of the ACIP, said it typically takes more than a year to be appointed as a member of a federal advisory panel – and that he went through a 1.5 year process to serve on ACIP. 'You apply by writing an essay,' he told the Telegraph. 'Once you're approved, you fill out maybe 20 or 30 forms. You disclose all of your financial stakes in companies and all sources of income. Then you get ethics training.' The health secretary added that the panel would attend a CDC meeting on June 25, where advisors are expected to deliberate and vote on who should receive a number of vaccines, including the flu shot, Covid-19 boosters, and vaccines for RSV, HPV, and meningococcal disease. Dr Peter Hotez, a vaccine expert and Dean for the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said: 'Kennedy is leading a MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] pseudoscience agenda, mostly as an economic stimulus for a very corrupt wellness/influencer industry'.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Kennedy's ouster of US vaccine advisors puts pharma ties under scrutiny
June 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s surprise ouster of a national vaccine advisory board, claiming it was "plagued with persistent conflicts of interest," puts new scrutiny on the group that recommends which shots should be administered to the American public. Kennedy said most vaccine experts on the 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have received "substantial funding" from drugmakers. He did not provide examples of conflicts of interest for any individual adviser or say how that may have influenced specific recommendations. Committee members say their work with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention follows rigorous vetting of their financial ties. They must abstain from votes on any vaccine for which they have a conflict, as well as any rival to that vaccine or any product from the same manufacturer, according to CDC rules. The agency's website lists one of the departing panel members as recusing herself over such conflicts. "To determine that the whole (advisory board), all 17 members, have conflicts of interest, that has not been shown by the evidence," fired board member Dr. Oliver Brooks told Reuters. "However, the decisions that have been made (by Kennedy) undermine confidence in the process and in vaccines." Six of the vaccine advisers fired by Kennedy received a total of $80 or less from drugmakers from 2017 to 2023, according to a Reuters review of the Open Payments federal database of industry payments to healthcare providers. Seven other panel members received between $4,000 and $55,000 from drugmakers for consulting, speaking fees, travel or meals over the period 2017 to 2023. Two of those experts had also worked with other scientists in industry-funded research projects worth several millions of dollars. Brooks, retired chief medical officer at Watts Healthcare in Los Angeles and former president of the National Medical Association, received nearly $44,000 in general payments from Sanofi ( opens new tab, according to the government records. Most of the payments occurred in 2017 and 2018, with nothing after 2020. Brooks became a vaccine adviser in 2021, and did not disclose any conflicts that would preclude him from voting. He said the panel's sole aim is "to prevent vaccine-preventable illness." Sanofi declined to comment. At least three vaccine advisers were not health professionals tracked by mandatory Open Payments reporting. Kennedy, who has spent years sowing doubts about vaccine safety and efficacy contrary to scientific evidence, faced questions from Congress about his own potential conflicts of interest during a confirmation hearing. Kennedy said he would divest his financial interest in litigation against Merck (MRK.N), opens new tab over its Gardasil vaccine, which prevents cancers caused by the human papillomavirus, to his non-dependent, adult son. In posts on X this week, Kennedy said he would share "examples of the historical corruption at ACIP" and announced eight new panel members. Four of them had received nominal reimbursement for meals, according to Open Payments, while the remainder recorded no payments or weren't covered by the database. A 2009 federal inspector general's report criticized the CDC for lax enforcement of disclosures among its advisory panels. New research shared with Reuters suggests conflicts have since declined among vaccine board members. "People are more aware of these issues on advisory committees, so they're facing greater scrutiny there," said Dr. Genevieve Kanter, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Southern California who has studied conflicts among government health advisers. Kanter's analysis of vaccine panel disclosures found that, on average, 43% of panel members facing decisions on specific vaccines declared conflicts in 2000 compared to 5%, on average, at meetings over the last 10 years. Kanter said it will also be important to understand how the vaccine advisers assembled by Kennedy are vetted for conflicts. They are due to meet at the end of June. "We don't want to replace one conflict with another set of conflicts," she said. "If someone has a financial interest in treatments that are believed to be alternatives to vaccines for certain conditions, we want to know that." ACIP members are required to divest all stock in vaccine makers and stop any active consulting work for those companies before joining the panel. They can't accept travel or food from vaccine companies or collect product royalties. Similar restrictions apply to family members. Committee members can keep working on vaccine clinical trials funded by industry and those research grants can help cover their salaries. They are required to file annual disclosures and recuse themselves from votes when specific conflicts arise. "ACIP members ... are carefully screened for major conflicts of interest and selected through a lengthy process," said the California Department of Public Health, whose immunization chief, Dr. Robert Schechter, was fired from the panel by Kennedy. One of the fired panel members, Dr. Bonnie Maldonado, is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Stanford University who has led vaccine studies worldwide. She participated in research that received $4.65 million in funding from Pfizer (PFE.N), opens new tab, most of it spanning 2021 to 2023. The studies involved vaccines for COVID-19, RSV and other diseases. Maldonado also received general payments from drugmakers, including $26,465 from Pfizer and nearly $7,000 from Merck. Maldonado abstained from a vote on COVID vaccine recommendations in June 2024, declaring a conflict of interest. In October, she did participate in a COVID-related vote. Maldonado didn't respond to a request for comment. Noel Brewer, a professor of public health at the University of North Carolina, is not a clinician and therefore not included in Open Payments. In a 2017 research paper, he disclosed receiving research grants from Merck, Pfizer and GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab and serving on a paid advisory board for Merck. The disclosures did not give details on the payment amounts. Spokespeople for the three vaccine makers were not immediately available for comment.
Business News Wales
5 hours ago
- Business News Wales
Denbighshire's Prosperous Business Fund Opens for Second Phase Applications
Businesses in Denbighshire are being invited to bid for a share of a £1 million fund. This is the second round of the Prosperous Denbighshire Business Fund being distributed by regeneration agency Cadwyn Clwyd. It follows an initial fund worth £1.3 million that benefited almost 100 companies across the county. Now an extra £1 million is up for grabs in grants of up to £35,000, with the closing date for applications on Thursday, July 31. Smaller grants of up to £2,000 are also available and Cadwyn Clwyd are expecting a similarly high level of interest this time round. Funding from the first tranche of cash helped save a 150-year-old village chemist shop in Dyserth which has seen its business boom thanks to a computerised appointment booking system. Pharmacist Ravi Kiran Palutla developed an on-line appointment booking system for Dyserth Pharmacy which allows customers to book in-person consultations so Ravi can then prescribe medicines and treatments or, where appropriate, refer patients to a doctor's surgery. The computerised appointment system has driven customer numbers up by 44 per cent and seen appointments soar from 20 a month to 300. The system was paid for by a £1,897 grant from the Prosperous Denbighshire Business Fund. Ravi added: 'A grant of just £1,897 enabled me to update the website to make it more functional and install a computerised booking system and the difference it has made has been amazing. 'The population of the Dyserth area is about 2,000 and for me to have a viable business I need a patient base of 4,000 plus and the computerised system has allowed me to build that. 'Because the appointments are made online we don't have the pressure of taking phone calls and making bookings so we have been able to develop new services. 'These range from treating migraines, chest and urinary infections, providing morning after contraceptive pills and giving Covid vaccines which have brought us patients from as far afield as Dolgellau and Criccieth. 'We are already doing virtual travel consultation securely via the internet. This reduces the need for the patient to travel twice to the pharmacy, once for consultation, second for vaccine administration. We will be developing a private phlebotomy business soon. 'I know health authorities in Wales are looking at what we have done and at the possibility of rolling it out across the country and it is the Prosperous Denbighshire Fund that has made all this a reality for us. 'We will be doing it at a smaller scale in Denbighshire pharmacies first which will then give us the opportunity to learn from the implementation. The learnings will be useful for the national project yet to come in the next 18 months. Cadwyn Clwyd Business Partnership Officer Donna Hughes said: 'It is remarkable the difference it has made to Ravi's business and to access to healthcare in North Denbighshire. 'He was in the first phase of the Prosperous Denbighshire rollout which can pay up to 70 per cent of the value of a project to a maximum of £35,000 of a £50,000 scheme. 'The success of what Ravi has done just shows that this kind of funding can do wonders for a business. 'It opens up tremendous possibilities and that's why we're delighted to be able to offer a further £1 million in grants which also include smaller schemes of between £1,000 and £2,000. 'The first phase proved hugely popular which was shown by the number of grants we were able to make and it also shows the need and the effectiveness of this kind of support for local people to build businesses with all the benefits that has for them and the communities in which they live.' The money comes from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, administered by the UK Government.
