In 2022, Aaron Siri, a close legal associate of RFK Jr., filed a petition to remove the legal status of the polio vaccines. Anyone who believes RFK Jr. about anything on vaccines needs to rethink things.
Thanks for your insights, Jonathan - I was wondering about your thoughts on the decision by Dr Oz that six states (including mine) will be an experiment in the first step in privatizing Medicare - prior authorizations for traditional Medicare. I knew they would go after it but always thought they would start with services for future Medicare recipients, not current ones. This is the beginning of the end of Medicare as we know it.
Thank you, Jonathan Cohn, for covering this travesty that is RFK Jr’s HHS leadership and explaining its nuts and bolts as well as its implications so clearly!
I do wonder what RFK,jr. and Trump would say if any of their grandchildren were infected with any of the vaccine preventable diseases and suffered a life altering side effect? Pretty sure RFK would just shrug it off and Trump would blame it on the democrats. But as the saying goes “stupid is as stupid does”, so there’s that.
As Republicrats are fond of saying "quit your bitching, we are all going to die". Kinder and gentler conservatives like the MAGA crowd just make sure it is sooner rather than later.
I can’t decide if we are more likely to die from a plague, lack of healthcare access, state-sponsored violence, or a poorly managed natural disaster response accelerated by climate change.
My greatest ire for those who voted to confirm known quack RFK Jr for HHS. A pox on them. I wish for those senators who voted to confirm him receive only defeat and sadness.
I’ve got a question … IF it is true that RFK Jr has made a lot of money suing Big Pharma, wouldn’t removing the liability shield allow him to make more money suing for larger amounts?
My daughter developed Type 1 diabetes after receiving the Hep B vaccine at 10 years of age, required before she entered 6th grade, because she didn't receive it as a baby. I am very pro-vaccine, but in researching the prevalence of Type 1 diabetes following administration of this vaccine in school-aged children, I realized that there were many many instances of this harm being done to a particular set of children: those who had not received the Hep B vaccine as part of their infant vaccine regime. I personally knew of 2 other children my daughter's age who had not been vaccinated as babies (it was not the protocol for babies born in 1990 to receive the Hep B vaccine) and who acquired Type 1 diabetes following the third and final shot of the Hep B vaccine. My second daughter, born in 1993 who DID receive a Hep B vaccine as a baby never had any issues.
Because in my research I came across a large percentage of similarly situation children in my older daughter's situation, I contacted an attorney in Boston who was putting together a class of children injured by the administration of the Hep B vaccine. As part of the vaccine injury law at the time, the plaintiff could only be one child, who represented the rest of the children as a class of plaintiffs. Unfortunately, my daughter's claim for injury from the vaccine as part of the class of children in the lawsuit was ultimately denied because of the high bar of proof required by the 1984 law that Congress had enacted to shield the manufacturers from liability. By virtue of the language of the statute, it was exceedingly difficult to prove harm as a proximate cause of the administration of the Hep B vaccine, even though there was a great deal of evidence in the scientific literature and many real-life examples of children who had not received the Hep B vaccine as infants and who later developed Type 1 diabetes after the administration of the Hep B vaccine when they were older.
My daughter has lived with the consequences of that Hep B vaccination since she was 10 and it has materially affected her life in so many negative ways, even at her young age. She has all the life-shortening and life-altering effects of Type 1 diabetes to look forward to. The insulin pump is not something she feels comfortable wearing and so maintaining a decent A1C level (the amount of glucose carried on the surface of red blood cells which causes damage to metabolic systems and organs) is very difficult. Scientists have yet to develop an artificial pancreas and with the research funds cut by the current administration it seems unlikely this will happen anytime soon. The decision to permit my daughter to receive the required Hep B vaccination at the age of 10, which I could have opted out of at the time if I had a religious objection (which I did not), will haunt me (and her) forever.
Sorry to hear of your daughter's challenges of living with type 1 diabetes. Could you provide a link or reference to the scientific studies that show a link between Hep B vaccine and Type 1 diabetes? I did some searching and found this link which describes studies that show no evidence for a causal link: https://www.chop.edu/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-safety/vaccines-and-other-conditions/diabetes
I, too, did a brief search and could find no support for the alleged link. As a retired physician, though, I can tell you that lawyers/juries aren't always swayed by the facts.
Sorry Gregory but I don't have them anymore - it was many years ago, and after the vaccine injury claim was denied with no ability to resurrect any claim my daughter might have had, I just got disgusted and threw everything away. But at that time I was not many years out from scientific graduate studies in metabolism, immunology and neurophysiology so I was pretty familiar with the then-current research. The "accepted" understanding at the time was that there was no link, but there were many smaller studies to be found that did highly suggest such a link, particularly with respect to children who had not received the vaccine as babies, but rather, later, as preteens or teenagers. Like I said, I knew 3 children personally who developed Type 1 diabetes directly following the administration of the third shot of the series, including my own daughter, born in 1990 when the vaccine was not routinely given to infants. Thank you for your condolences.
Now we learn that RFK and the Trump regime may actually ban mRNA vaccines entirely and pull covid vaccines from the market. Not just stop research; not just stop development of boosters targeted for flu and covid; actually ban them.
Here's where an ALL CAPS rant is not a sign of dementia:
THESE PEOPLE WANT US TO DIE.
They want to KILL us.
Will we have to travel to Canada to get boosters? Will ICE be interrogating travellers as to whether they were vaccinated outside the territory of the United States?
In 2022, Aaron Siri, a close legal associate of RFK Jr., filed a petition to remove the legal status of the polio vaccines. Anyone who believes RFK Jr. about anything on vaccines needs to rethink things.
Thanks for your insights, Jonathan - I was wondering about your thoughts on the decision by Dr Oz that six states (including mine) will be an experiment in the first step in privatizing Medicare - prior authorizations for traditional Medicare. I knew they would go after it but always thought they would start with services for future Medicare recipients, not current ones. This is the beginning of the end of Medicare as we know it.
Thank you, Jonathan Cohn, for covering this travesty that is RFK Jr’s HHS leadership and explaining its nuts and bolts as well as its implications so clearly!
I do wonder what RFK,jr. and Trump would say if any of their grandchildren were infected with any of the vaccine preventable diseases and suffered a life altering side effect? Pretty sure RFK would just shrug it off and Trump would blame it on the democrats. But as the saying goes “stupid is as stupid does”, so there’s that.
As Republicrats are fond of saying "quit your bitching, we are all going to die". Kinder and gentler conservatives like the MAGA crowd just make sure it is sooner rather than later.
What an idiot!
I can’t decide if we are more likely to die from a plague, lack of healthcare access, state-sponsored violence, or a poorly managed natural disaster response accelerated by climate change.
Good luck, America.
How about a plague combined with lack of health care access combined with economic collapse and mass identity theft?
Related sources of information:
Dr. Paul Offit's substack titled Beyond the Noise: https://pauloffit.substack.com/
He discusses each of his substack entries with Dr. Vincent Racconello on a youtube channel also titled Beyond the Noise
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGhmZX2NKiNkXveaffE9-A2-Nl_ka-n9z&si=N-bbeHhwJq-C0K06
I learn something every time I read your articles thank you for that. Also I'm going to have to send you a bill for emotional distress.
Thank you. And sorry! :)
Thanks for the explanation on TDaP. I had wondered what the reason was for the change.
Informative article all around.
My greatest ire for those who voted to confirm known quack RFK Jr for HHS. A pox on them. I wish for those senators who voted to confirm him receive only defeat and sadness.
No whooping cough did rack his frame,
Nor measles drear with spots.
Not these impaired the sacred name
Of Stephen Dowling Bots
Despised love struck not with woe
That head of curly knots
Nor stomach troubles laid him low
Young Stephen Dowling Bots.
Oh no. Then list with tearful eye.
Whilst I, his fate do tell
His soul did from this cold world fly
By falling down a well.
They took him out and emptied him.
Alas it was too late.
His spirit had gone for to sport aloft
In the realms of the good and great.
I’ve got a question … IF it is true that RFK Jr has made a lot of money suing Big Pharma, wouldn’t removing the liability shield allow him to make more money suing for larger amounts?
Yes. Talk about conflict of interest.
Excellent piece. Thank you so much for keeping us informed.
My daughter developed Type 1 diabetes after receiving the Hep B vaccine at 10 years of age, required before she entered 6th grade, because she didn't receive it as a baby. I am very pro-vaccine, but in researching the prevalence of Type 1 diabetes following administration of this vaccine in school-aged children, I realized that there were many many instances of this harm being done to a particular set of children: those who had not received the Hep B vaccine as part of their infant vaccine regime. I personally knew of 2 other children my daughter's age who had not been vaccinated as babies (it was not the protocol for babies born in 1990 to receive the Hep B vaccine) and who acquired Type 1 diabetes following the third and final shot of the Hep B vaccine. My second daughter, born in 1993 who DID receive a Hep B vaccine as a baby never had any issues.
Because in my research I came across a large percentage of similarly situation children in my older daughter's situation, I contacted an attorney in Boston who was putting together a class of children injured by the administration of the Hep B vaccine. As part of the vaccine injury law at the time, the plaintiff could only be one child, who represented the rest of the children as a class of plaintiffs. Unfortunately, my daughter's claim for injury from the vaccine as part of the class of children in the lawsuit was ultimately denied because of the high bar of proof required by the 1984 law that Congress had enacted to shield the manufacturers from liability. By virtue of the language of the statute, it was exceedingly difficult to prove harm as a proximate cause of the administration of the Hep B vaccine, even though there was a great deal of evidence in the scientific literature and many real-life examples of children who had not received the Hep B vaccine as infants and who later developed Type 1 diabetes after the administration of the Hep B vaccine when they were older.
My daughter has lived with the consequences of that Hep B vaccination since she was 10 and it has materially affected her life in so many negative ways, even at her young age. She has all the life-shortening and life-altering effects of Type 1 diabetes to look forward to. The insulin pump is not something she feels comfortable wearing and so maintaining a decent A1C level (the amount of glucose carried on the surface of red blood cells which causes damage to metabolic systems and organs) is very difficult. Scientists have yet to develop an artificial pancreas and with the research funds cut by the current administration it seems unlikely this will happen anytime soon. The decision to permit my daughter to receive the required Hep B vaccination at the age of 10, which I could have opted out of at the time if I had a religious objection (which I did not), will haunt me (and her) forever.
Sorry to hear of your daughter's challenges of living with type 1 diabetes. Could you provide a link or reference to the scientific studies that show a link between Hep B vaccine and Type 1 diabetes? I did some searching and found this link which describes studies that show no evidence for a causal link: https://www.chop.edu/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-safety/vaccines-and-other-conditions/diabetes
I, too, did a brief search and could find no support for the alleged link. As a retired physician, though, I can tell you that lawyers/juries aren't always swayed by the facts.
Sorry Gregory but I don't have them anymore - it was many years ago, and after the vaccine injury claim was denied with no ability to resurrect any claim my daughter might have had, I just got disgusted and threw everything away. But at that time I was not many years out from scientific graduate studies in metabolism, immunology and neurophysiology so I was pretty familiar with the then-current research. The "accepted" understanding at the time was that there was no link, but there were many smaller studies to be found that did highly suggest such a link, particularly with respect to children who had not received the vaccine as babies, but rather, later, as preteens or teenagers. Like I said, I knew 3 children personally who developed Type 1 diabetes directly following the administration of the third shot of the series, including my own daughter, born in 1990 when the vaccine was not routinely given to infants. Thank you for your condolences.
Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Now we learn that RFK and the Trump regime may actually ban mRNA vaccines entirely and pull covid vaccines from the market. Not just stop research; not just stop development of boosters targeted for flu and covid; actually ban them.
Here's where an ALL CAPS rant is not a sign of dementia:
THESE PEOPLE WANT US TO DIE.
They want to KILL us.
Will we have to travel to Canada to get boosters? Will ICE be interrogating travellers as to whether they were vaccinated outside the territory of the United States?
This is beyond insanity.