Trump Preps for War on Vaccines

By milhayser on January 30, 2017.

In the latest of a series of appointments that are poised to contravene scientific and medical consensus, Donald Trump met with anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the purpose of forming a commission on "vaccine safety." On The Pump Handle, Kim Krisberg says "Kennedy is a lawyer — not a scientist, doctor, child health expert or public health practitioner" yet Trump wants to charge him with "reviewing the safety of one of the greatest life-saving tools of the 20th century." Like Kennedy, Trump says that vaccines can cause autism, and as Orac notes on Respectful Insolence, "compared to the flip-flops Trump has pulled off regarding beliefs in a variety of areas, Trump’s views on vaccines and autism have been remarkably consistent." Meanwhile, on Confessions of a Science Librarian, John Dupuis picks up on an article that jokes Trump "will require all reviewers for all journals and grant agencies to end all reviews with the word 'Sad!'" and may even "Make Astrophysics Great Again." John says "One word peer review is going to be Huuuuugggggggeeeeee!"

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