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Paul Offit, a pediatrician who specializes in treating infectious diseases, has written an editorial in the New York Times hammering Trump Department of Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Offit starts his article by challenging the media's portrayal of Kennedy as a "vaccine skeptic." He argues that Kennedy's stance goes beyond mere skepticism towards untested vaccines; instead, he is spreading misinformation about vaccines that have been demonstrated to be safe and effective for many years.
Offit stated, "He asserts that the MMR vaccine leads to autism, even though over a dozen studies conducted across seven countries on three continents, involving thousands of children, have demonstrated that it does not."
"When asked about the polio vaccine, Mr. Kennedy claimed that it caused an “explosion in soft tissue cancers” that killed, 'many, many, many, many, many more people than polio ever did.' Setting aside the fact that an 'explosion in soft tissue cancers' hasn’t occurred, studies comparing children who received early batches of polio vaccines with unvaccinated children found no differences in cancer incidence."
In the latter part of the editorial, Offit delves into Kennedy's previous works to trace the roots of his strong opposition to vaccinations.
"Mr. Kennedy appears to support the notion that enhancing the immune system via proper nutrition and minimizing contact with environmental toxins could suffice to avert infections," he notes. "This conviction may, in part, account for his preference for consuming unpasteurized milk and his stance on the ineffectiveness of vaccines."
Offit further points out that Kennedy leverages this belief to arrive at what he characterizes as a "particularly troubling" conclusion, suggesting that contracting HIV does not lead to the development of AIDS.
"In his publication, Mr. Kennedy references AIDS denialists who argue that AIDS was not widely disseminated, that it was not contagious between individuals, and that it was probably triggered by recreational substances such as poppers and the antiviral medication AZT," he states. "He refers to the administration of AZT as 'mass murder.'"
Offit ultimately arrives at the conclusion that "if Kennedy is confirmed, it poses a significant risk for children in the United States."
