A Simple Challenge
A previous article of mine, A Simple Challenge For Drs. Vinay Prasad and Tracy Hoeg: Denounce Robert Kennedy Jr. For Promoting The Movie Vaxxed 3: Authorized to Kill, issued a very simple challenge to two doctors. RFK Jr. has spread rank anti-vaccine disinformation for decades, and he wants to do to the U.S. what he did in Samoa. Just because he encourages healthy eating and exercise does not mean RFK Jr. harmless. He is very dangerous and he should be treated that way.
Doctors who sanewashed his disinformation aren’t just playing with fire, they are knowingly fanning the flames, and they are doing so at a dangerous moment. According to the article Trump Selects Dave Weldon, Former Congressman With Ties to Vaccine Critics, to Lead CDC:
Weldon has a history of backing controversial and, in the views of most scientists, discredited ideas that linked childhood vaccines with increasing rates of autism. Del Bigtree, a prominent anti-vaccine activist who worked on RFK Jr.’s campaign, applauded the selection of Weldon on X.
Another article read RFK Jr. Hires Top Anti-Vaccine Activist As Campaign Communications Director. This article, about a dangerous and threatening anti-vaxx star, Del Bigtree said:
Announcing his new role, Bigtree released a letter rife with misinformation alleging that the Covid vaccines were responsible for widespread injury and death. Bigtree called for his supporters to “stop the globalist’s New World Order” and unite across the political spectrum under the banner of “medical freedom.” Bigtree also solicited $1,000 donations from supporters to join a “health think tank,” funds that he said would go toward creating television ads.
Anti-vaxxers are winning, while science and children’s health are losing. The news headlines read Childhood Vaccination Rates Continue to Decline as Trump Heads for a Second Term and Whooping Cough Cases Have Quintupled. These States Have it Worst. This isn’t a game. It all has the potential to get much worse.
It should not be hard for “pro-vaccine” doctors to denounce RFK Jr., and I would have a hard time respecting any doctor who couldn’t pass this simple challenge. Any doctor who is unable to condemn RFK Jr. should seriously reflect on the choices that led to their current situation. Drs. Prasad and Hoeg have not denounced RFK Jr. for promoting movies such as Vaxxed 3: Authorized to Kill and Plandemic. In fact, Drs. Prasad and Hoeg have repeatedly praised him. They told the world that RFK Jr. was wise and trustworthy and powerful people believed them.
Unabashedly Pro-Vaccine
I am curious if their collaborator at Sensible Medicine, a monetized Substack, Dr. Adam Cifu can pass my simple challenge. Can he denounce Vaxxed 3: Authorized to Kill? Dr. Cifu once described himself “unabashedly pro-vaccine.” If this is truly the case, he should have no problem condemning RFK Jr. not just for showing Vaxxed 3: Authorized to Kill, but also for what he’s already done in the real world. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn’t do much good at this point. The time to speak out was yesterday. Doctors’ silence on the risk of RFK Jr. sent a message that he’s not risky at all. And here we are.
If Dr. Cifu passes my simple challenge and condemns RFK Jr. for all this, perhaps he can also explain why he continues to associate Sensible Medicine. It seems to me that any doctor who is unabashedly pro-vaccine would recoil at profiting from a blog that told the world that RFK Jr. was nothing to worry about and someone to love. The man’s got a body count.
Dr. Cifu warned us of “motivating biases” in his essay The Case for Being a Medical Conservative, and I think that’s was wise advice. We don’t have paying customers to please here at Science Based Medicine, and I am unabashedly pro-vaccine. As such, I am free to say obvious things.
Doctors who downplayed RFK Jr.’s enabled his dangerous disinformation. They own everything that he does for the next four years. Any doctor who normalized RFK Jr. in any way is anti-vaccine no matter how they describe themselves.
