Kennedy is a "conspiracy theorist " wrote the Washington Post; he's an "Anti-Vaccine Activist " blared the New York Times, which condemned "Kennedy and his fellow travelers "; and on it went .
Kennedy is a leading environmentalist. He's also the son of the former attorney general and senator, Robert Kennedy; and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy.
Having followed his work for years, I had a difficult time believing he could be on point on so many issues, and completely off-base about vaccines, as media reports suggest.
So I looked into it. I read a 2014 book Kennedy edited on thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in some vaccines . I also read his critics.
And here's my non-medical-expert opinion: the media should stop the name-calling.
Anti-Vax
For starters, it's a stretch to accuse Kennedy of being anti-vaccine.
"I am pro-vaccine," Kennedy wrote in Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak. " I had all six of my children vaccinated. I believe that vaccines have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of humans over the past century and that broad vaccine coverage is critical to public health. But I want our vaccines to be as safe as possible."
This begs the question: What's the definition of this term, "anti-vaccine"? If you question any aspect of any vaccine should you be stuck with this label?
"If patients have concerns, doubts, or suspicions"--"for example, about the safety of vaccines, this does not mean they are 'anti-vaccine,'" writes Peter Doshi, associate editor of the British Medical Journal. "The label (or its derogatory derivative 'anti-vaxxer') is a form of attack. It stigmatizes the mere act of even asking an open question about what is known and unknown about the safety of vaccines."
Thimerosal
Multi-dose vaccines, which are less costly to produce and store than single-dose vaccines, require a preservative to keep them sterile. The preservative protects the batch from being contaminated when a syringe is inserted to remove each dose.
For years, thimerosal has been one of the most common vaccine preservatives, although alternatives are increasing (at least in the U.S. -- in the developing world vaccines still regularly contain thimerosal).
In the heavily-footnoted Thimerosal, Kennedy calls the preservative "a dangerous neurotoxin" due to its mercury content.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), among other health bodies, disagrees. Still the FDA"continues to work with, vaccine manufacturers to reduce or eliminate thimerosal from vaccines."
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