If I ran my farm by the information I saw online.. I’d be in trouble. If there is one piece of advice I’d give young farmers, it’d be to double check sourcing, go with good science and be very careful when listening to outliers and disrupters who claim they know the better way forward.

In a partnership with the Coalition for Health Resilience, Defend Public Health has a new blog post up about how vaccines are tested.

“Our study has lessons for public figures and institutions. They, especially politicians, must lead in curbing misinformation, as their misleading statements are quickly amplified by the public”. This was the conclusion of a study of online misinformation, as the U.S. government lies to us daily.

My friend and DPH member Dr. Miranda Yaver has a new book out. More reading for me!

The incredible Dr. Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social is out with a new piece about the impact of having a charlatan in charge of science and healthcare. As usual he pulls no punches.

The American public needs to understand that high-level HHS officials are shamelessly lying to us all. Tylenol does not cause autism, and Makary, Bhattacharya, and Oz knew this as they stood there next to Trump as he said it did, nodding like bobbleheads.

The evidence that Trump et al. used to claim that Tylenol causes autism was a paper by Harvard’s Andrea Baccarelli. The paper did not show a causal relationship, but Dr. Baccarelli was paid $150,000 to testify against Tylenol’s manufacturer in court. RFK Jr. says conflicts are bad tho.

FDA Overlord Marty Makary stood by as Trump falsely said to the world that Tylenol causes autism. Then he sent this letter to physicians. “To be clear, while an association between acetaminophen and autism has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established”.

Internationally-recognized virologist Dr. Jim Alwine @jimalwine.bsky.social had a chance to appear on the Infectious Dose podcast with @pathogenscribe.bsky.social and share his thoughts about the state of pandemic preparedness. Have a listen if you can. www.infectiousdose.com/post/jim-alw...

It’s Wednesday and that means it is time for Defend Public Health’s Whopper of the Week! This week we tackle RFK Jr.’s false claims about fluoride.

RFK Jr. claimed that scientists and healthcare providers support his dangerous agenda, and also claimed his mailbag is bigger than Senator Wyden’s. Yes, this really happened. Defend Public Health has a new campaign. You can help prove that we do not, in fact, support RFK Jr. or his ideas.

Anti-vax groups are angry at their primary misinformation vector, RFK Jr., for blaming Tylenol for autism instead of vaccines (both claims are incorrect).

Oh look it’s Oz walking back Trump’s comments on Tylenol during pregnancy. “Take it when it’s appropriate…[Tylenol is] probably your best option for fighting lower-grade fevers that don’t require hospitalization”.

There’s understandably been a lot of focus on the CDC lately, but I don’t anyone to miss the bad tidings from the EPA. -Scientists at the Office of Water have been ordered to stop publishing papers without review by a political appointee. -Office of Research and Development has been eliminated.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out that the data showing the safety and effectiveness of vaccines is significantly more robust than it is for Leucovorin as a treatment for autism spectrum disorder. Gold Standard Science, eh fellas?

Trump again just implied that the MMR vaccine causes autism. Many studies have shown that there is no relationship between MMR vaccine and the development of autism. This one followed every single child born in Denmark from 1991 through 1998 (n=537,303). There was no association.

Trump made the medical recommendation today that the MMR vaccine should be separated into three shots. He said there is no down side to this. At the same time, he claimed kids are getting too many shots. But he wants them to get more I guess.

Trump said today that he heard rumors that people in Cuba are too poor to buy acetaminophen and autism doesn’t exist there. Both of these statements are incorrect. Rumors is a great album by Fleetwood Mac but not a great basis for public health policy.

Reliable source right here.

Acetaminophen. Uh-SEE-ta-min-o-fin. He can’t pronounce it, his vibes tell him it’s bad.

"cuba doesn't have autism because they can't afford tylenol" is perhaps the funniest thing trump has ever said

RFK Jr. just said that mothers believe that their children’s autism was caused by vaccines, so it should be studied for that reason. He says that research has not focused on it. This is incorrect.

It is really disheartening to see the men who are in charge of science and healthcare in the United States stand before us all and spew misinformation about autism. To claim that genetic background isn’t the overwhelming contributor to autism is egregious.

I’m an epidemiologist and I do not view autistic children or adults as “expanding statistics”, as Marty Makary just alleged.

Bhattacharya just claimed that genetics “cannot be the only cause of autism” because rates are rising. Rates are not rising, and genetics are the overwhelming contributing factor to the development of ASD.

Folate deficiency can lead to autism, says RFK Jr. Grains have been required to be fortified with folate in the U.S. since 1998.

“There’s a rumor that there is no Tylenol in Cuba and there is no autism”, says Trump. This is false.

Contrary to what Trump is saying, there is a “down side” to separating MMR into three separate vaccines. That’s three unnecessary office visits and three unnecessary copays. This type of policy puts up more barriers to vaccination.

“They pump so much into those beautiful little babies it’s a disgrace”, referring to vaccines, says Trump. (Vaccines do not cause autism) Autism is not “artificially induced”, as Trump just said. The MMR should be taken separately, says Trump. This is alarming and incorrect.

There are groups of people who don’t take pills or vaccines at all and they have no autism, says Trump. This is not true. And he can’t pronounce acetaminophen. Just said Tylenol is “not good”.

While we await this announcement, I highly recommend The Naked Gun reboot. It was hilarious in the manner of the old Airplane movies. I am sure I didn’t catch all of the gags.

Literally the data RFK Jr. cites to support his incorrect statements about an “autism epidemic” come from the CDC. So he thinks they are horrible people who work for a corrupt organization but also that their data are pretty damned good. Which is gonna be today, dawg?

Just want to point out that RFK Jr. very recently said that the CDC is a bunch of “horrible” people and are “corrupt”, yet this will not stop him from citing their data gathered by experts over decades.

On the edge of my seat waiting for science ignoramii to tell us what they’ve “discovered” as the causes of autism spectrum disorder. Nothing they come up with make a dent. The overwhelming contributor to the development of ASD is genetic background.

I know what it is to have a chronic condition with no known cause or cure. I know what it is to surf the wave of hope sold by people with no conscience… only to be smashed upon the rocks again. I know what is to watch those salespeople disappear… with their money Leaving me to drown again.

Many studies have shown that there is no relationship between MMR vaccine and the development of autism. Here are two of the best. This one followed every single child born in Denmark from 1991 through 1998 (n=537,303). There was no association.

If RFK Jr. does include vaccines as a cause of autism in his report, here are some facts from Defend Public Health’s report. 1. Tiny amounts of thimerosal were used as a preservative in childhood vaccines, but once it was removed (2001 in the U.S.), rates of autism diagnoses kept climbing.

It appears that RFK Jr.’s report on autism is expected today. It seems that it may not mention vaccines as a cause, and they are not a cause. Someone needs to ask him point blank if he still thinks they are. He’s been pivoting to other angles, suggesting he knows he can’t get away with it.

Amazing work by @nurseteria.bsky.social and @donnagaffney.bsky.social. Grandparents for Vaccines is picking up more and more momentum. See the post below for how you can join.

I had an opportunity to speak with @washingtonpost.com about last week’s ACIP meeting. I was not impressed with the caliber of the science presented by some of the speakers. I was very impressed with the data presented by the career CDC scientists who are experts.

Levi says “well how do they get antibiotics?” Do I have news for you about the state of health care access in America…

Okay, maybe some good news. @melodyschreiber.com has just informed me that HHS said that ACIP’s vote today *does* constitute a recommendation. This is important because it *should* mean that in every state, people should be able to get COVID19 vaccines without a prescription.

I was pleased to speak with the LA Times today about the ACIP meeting.

Now here is my summary of the ACIP meeting itself. 1. The chair permitted people to present harmful misinformation about vaccines throughout the entire meeting. 2. Retsef Levi and several other members appear to have no understanding of basic public health principles and IMO should be removed.

This is the best summary I can personally come up with from ACIP’s meeting on COVID19 vaccines: 1. I think the situation is the same as it was *before* the meeting. 2. They voted that prescriptions are not required, but if you live somewhere that currently requires them, they still may be.

There is still massive confusion around the practical outcome of ACIP’s vote on COVID19 vaccines today. Some are reporting that ACIP made no recommendations at all. This is the exact wording of what they voted “yes” on. Shared clinical decisionmaking could mean talking to a pharmacist.

Remember. The CDC Director still has to sign off on the ACIP recommendations, but they just fired Dr. Monarez, so there is an interim director who has no scientific or public health background. And I have heard from others that in this situation, the person who must sign off may be RFK Jr.

Having had some time to process the ACIP meeting, I am left not fully understanding the apparent conflict of: The FDA approving COVID19 vaccines for those aged 65+ and those with underlying conditions. ACIP *appearing* to have recommended them for everyone over 6 months without a prescription.

ACIP was voting on whatever the hell this proposition is when my feed cut out.

The ACIP vote was tied 6-6 for requiring everyone to get a prescription for the COVID19 vaccine. The chair broke the tie by voting NO. Prescriptions will NOT be required.