Reason Magazine
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Health
RFK Jr.'s handpicked vaccine panel unsurprisingly delivers antivaccine conclusions
Summary
Nutrition label
66% Informative
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has asserted that thimerosal, the ethyl mercury preservative in some vaccines, causes autism.
He fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices earlier this month .
Kennedy has since replaced them with handpicked appointees who share his beliefs.
On Thursday , the new members voted to confirm the secretary's unscientific claims.
VR Score
70
Informative language
70
Neutral language
14
Article tone
semi-formal
Language
English
Language complexity
70
Offensive language
not offensive
Hate speech
not hateful
Attention-grabbing headline
not detected
Known propaganda techniques
detected
Time-value
short-lived
External references
14
https://www.drugtopics.com/view/cdc-report-finds-no-connection-between-thimerosal-and-autismhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/06/26/rfk-jr-acip-thimerosal-flu/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-vaccine-safety-office-hire-former-head-anti-vaccine-group-founded-rfk-jr/https://www.notus.org/health-science/make-america-healthy-again-report-citation-errorshttps://www.cdc.gov/acip/about/index.htmlhttps://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/slides-2025-06-25-26/Thimerosal-Containing-Vaccines-Summary-of-Evidence-508.pdfhttps://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0140EFEWK/reasonmagazinea-20/https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/health/cdc-vaccine-adviser-thimerosal-presentationhttps://www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safety/about/thimerosal.html#:~:text=Fact,have%20also%20never%20contained%20thimerosal.https://www.murray.senate.gov/senator-murray-calls-on-white-house-to-reverse-reported-hiring-of-anti-vaxx-conspiracy-theorist-lyn-redwood-to-cdc/https://www.statnews.com/2025/06/26/rfk-jr-new-acip-panel-bans-thimerosal-in-flu-shots-preservative-long-a-target-of-antivax-activists/https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/lyn-redwood-rn-msn/https://childrenshealthdefense.org/authors/robert-f-kennedy-jr/https://www.cdc.gov/acip/downloads/slides-2025-06-25-26/05-influenza-redwood-508.pdf
Source diversity
10