3 ms·

Jeez, what an asshole for trying to figure out a major problem, amirite? What is this place? If you took his name off it, hopefully at least some of you would r

Jeez, what an asshole for trying to figure out a major problem, amirite? What is this place? If you took his name off it, hopefully at least some of you would recognize that this is something we want people trying to do.

steve_adams_86 1y ago
I think people want better understanding of autism and better ways to treat severe cases of it, but many people aren’t convinced this guy should lead that effort. He speaks about it with worrying naivety, and has spoken about treating other problems with very unorthodox methods. In short, it worries people for kids with autism. This man is not a doctor. He doesn’t understand autism. He can do a lot of harm.
hn_acker 1y ago
> Jeez, what an asshole for trying to figure out a major problem, amirite? Maybe people are treating RFK Jr. as an "asshole" for reasons other than "trying to figure out a major problem" (which is arguably not what he will do). > What is this place? If you took his name off it, hopefully at least some of you would recognize that this is something we want people trying to do. When it comes to a public figure who has spoken (lied [1][2]) for years about autism and vaccines, you can't accept the person's stated goals in isolation from their historical words and present beliefs. It's also naive to ignore the wider impacts of anti-vax rhetoric, including where Kennedy is not involved. For example [3]: > Tommey then turned to the MMR vaccine, asking if the mother still felt that it was a dangerous vaccine after her daughter's death from the disease, prefacing the question by claiming to have seen a lot of "injury" from the vaccine. "Do you still feel the same way about the MMR vaccine versus measles?" she asked. > "Yes, absolutely; we would absolutely not take the MMR. The measles wasn't that bad, and they got over it pretty quickly," the mother replied, speaking again of her four living children. > "So," Tommey continued, "when you see the fearmongering in the press, which is what we want to stop, that is why we want to get the truth out, what do you say to the parents who are rushing out, panicking, to get the MMR for their 6-month-old baby because they think that that child is going to die of measles because of what happened to your daughter?" > Through a translator, who spoke low German, the parents' primary language, her response was that she would still say, "Don't do the shots. There [are] doctors that can help with measles. [Measles is] not as bad as they're making it out to be." [1] https://www.factcheck.org/2023/08/scicheck-what-rfk-jr-gets-wrong-about-autism/ https://www.factcheck.org/2023/08/scicheck-what-rfk-jr-gets-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.#Anti-vaccine_advocacy_and_conspiracy_theories_on_public_health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.#Anti-vac... [3] https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/anti-vaccine-group-founded-by-rfk-jr-weaponizes-childs-measles-death/ https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/anti-vaccine-group-fo...
- lowmagnet 1y ago
  Lancet retracted the MMR-Autism article 15 years ago, but only after it did 12 years of damage by being out there. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2831678/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2831678/ Guess where the Dr. who wrote it worked? (hint, they had a competing, non-multivalent vaccine)

steve_adams_86 1y ago

I think people want better understanding of autism and better ways to treat severe cases of it, but many people aren’t convinced this guy should lead that effort. He speaks about it with worrying naivety, and has spoken about treating other problems with very unorthodox methods. In short, it worries people for kids with autism. This man is not a doctor. He doesn’t understand autism. He can do a lot of harm.

hn_acker 1y ago

> Jeez, what an asshole for trying to figure out a major problem, amirite? Maybe people are treating RFK Jr. as an "asshole" for reasons other than "trying to figure out a major problem" (which is arguably not what he will do). > What is this place? If you took his name off it, hopefully at least some of you would recognize that this is something we want people trying to do. When it comes to a public figure who has spoken (lied [1][2]) for years about autism and vaccines, you can't accept the person's stated goals in isolation from their historical words and present beliefs. It's also naive to ignore the wider impacts of anti-vax rhetoric, including where Kennedy is not involved. For example [3]: > Tommey then turned to the MMR vaccine, asking if the mother still felt that it was a dangerous vaccine after her daughter's death from the disease, prefacing the question by claiming to have seen a lot of "injury" from the vaccine. "Do you still feel the same way about the MMR vaccine versus measles?" she asked. > "Yes, absolutely; we would absolutely not take the MMR. The measles wasn't that bad, and they got over it pretty quickly," the mother replied, speaking again of her four living children. > "So," Tommey continued, "when you see the fearmongering in the press, which is what we want to stop, that is why we want to get the truth out, what do you say to the parents who are rushing out, panicking, to get the MMR for their 6-month-old baby because they think that that child is going to die of measles because of what happened to your daughter?" > Through a translator, who spoke low German, the parents' primary language, her response was that she would still say, "Don't do the shots. There [are] doctors that can help with measles. [Measles is] not as bad as they're making it out to be." [1] https://www.factcheck.org/2023/08/scicheck-what-rfk-jr-gets-wrong-about-autism/ https://www.factcheck.org/2023/08/scicheck-what-rfk-jr-gets-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.#Anti-vaccine_advocacy_and_conspiracy_theories_on_public_health https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Jr.#Anti-vac... [3] https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/anti-vaccine-group-founded-by-rfk-jr-weaponizes-childs-measles-death/ https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/03/anti-vaccine-group-fo...

lowmagnet 1y ago
Lancet retracted the MMR-Autism article 15 years ago, but only after it did 12 years of damage by being out there. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2831678/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2831678/ Guess where the Dr. who wrote it worked? (hint, they had a competing, non-multivalent vaccine)