National Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Saturday instructed leaders of the nonprofit organization he founded to mimic the design of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site, but to remove web pages that mimic cases where the vaccine causes autism.
The page was published on a site that is clearly registered in the Child Health Defense of the nonprofit Anti-Vaccination Group. Kennedy’s actions came after the New York Times asked about the page and then it bouncing off all over social media.
The page was taken offline on a Saturday night.
“Committee Kennedy has directed the Advisory Bureau to send formal demand to children’s health defenses requesting the removal of their website,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
“At HHS, we are dedicated to restoring the institutions to a tradition that supports science based on gold standard evidence,” the statement said.
It was not clear why the anti-vaccine group released a page mimicking the CDC. The organization did not respond to requests for comment, and Kennedy said it cut ties with the presidential election in 2023.
The fake vaccine safety page was virtually indistinguishable from what is available on CDC’s own site. The layout, typeface and logo were the same, and probably violated federal copyright laws.
The CDC’s own website refutes the relationship between vaccines and autism, but fraudsters leave the possibility of existence open. The bottom included a link to video testimony from parents who believed their child was harmed by the vaccine.
The page was first published Reported on Substack by E. Rosalie LiFounder of Information Epidemiology Lab. The nonprofit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
For many years, Kennedy has argued that there is a link between vaccines and autism. He held that stance during the Senate confirmation hearing despite extensive research exposing the theory.
Under his direction, the CDC recently announced plans to review the evidence. This is a waste of money from Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican and chairman of the Senate Health Committee.
Online at Mock Web Pages is the familiar blue banner from CDC above, featuring the agency’s blue and white logo and the term “vaccine safety.” The headline read “Vaccinations and autism.”
The text supported the link between vaccines and autism, laid out both the exposed research, but left it announced the possibility that it had been countered by scientists.
This included citations to research by Brian S. Hooker, chief science officer for child health defense, as well as other studies critical of vaccination.
“This is a mix of legally peer-reviewed and fake,” said Dr. Bruce Guerin, who oversaw HHS’ vaccine programs for the Bush and Obama administrations.
“Footnotes give the impression that it’s a legitimate scientific work,” he added.
The series of testimonies at the bottom of the page featured videos with titles such as “Mother of 3: I Will Will Will Wild Again” and “We Signed His Life.”
This is in stark contrast to CDC officials. Autism and Vaccine Websitewhich is primarily devoted to exposing connection ideas, clearly saying, “study shows no links.”
Recently, Children’s Health Defense has faced the outbreak of measles in West Texas.
The organization’s CHD.TV channel posted an on-camera interview with the parents of a six-year-old girl who was declared dead from measles by the state health department.
The child was not vaccinated and had no underlying medical conditions. According to the health organization. However, they claimed that children’s health defenses had obtained hospital records that conflict with the cause of death.
The organization also handled the girl’s siblings and interviewed Dr. Ben Edwards, one of two Texas doctors.
In response to the video, Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas issued a statement this week that “recent videos are circulating online and contain misleading inaccurate claims,” saying the confidentiality law does not prevent hospitals from providing information specifically relating to cases.
Source: www.nytimes.com
