OPINION:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recently held its first official meeting since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 sitting members and reconstituted the group with his handpicked replacements.
During its first session under new management, Mr. Kennedy’s advisory committee focused on generating unhealthy and unscientific uncertainty about a crucial public health issue: childhood vaccination.
Martin Kulldorff, the secretary’s new co-chair, announced that the committee would revisit vaccines that had long proved to safely protect children, including the combination shot for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. The meeting included a presentation on thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative, followed by a vote to walk back broad, nonpartisan scientific consensus recommendations for flu vaccines containing that preservative.
The presenter tapped to discuss thimerosal was Lyn Redwood, a longtime vaccine critic and former leader of Children’s Health Defense, the organization founded by Mr. Kennedy that has spread anti-vaccine misinformation for years. Mrs. Redwood has spent more than 20 years promoting the idea that vaccines that use thimerosal cause autism in children, even as many highly powered and respected studies continue to find zero connection between autism and thimerosal.
Her initial presentation, it turns out, cited a scientific study that doesn’t even exist. Although that “oversight” was corrected, Mrs. Redwood’s slides still contained inaccurate information about the amounts of thimerosal in vaccines. Mrs. Redwood, now a special employee at HHS, went on to say in her presentation that thimerosal is toxic and dangerous to children. This is not only sloppy but also false, and it diminishes the faith of parents in the importance of getting their children vaccinated.
Researchers have repeatedly debunked the myth that thimerosal causes autism or other neurological damage. Thimerosal has been used safely in medicines and vaccines for decades to prevent germ growth.
Even though it’s safe, thimerosal has been largely phased out in favor of better technologies. According to the CDC, 96% of all U.S. flu vaccines administered during the 2024-2025 season were thimerosal-free.
More than 20 years ago, federal health agencies and vaccine manufacturers agreed to remove or drastically reduce the levels of thimerosal in vaccines. If there were an association between the preservative and autism, autism rates almost certainly would have decreased after thimerosal was essentially removed from vaccines, something predicted by folks like Mrs. Redwood. Instead, autism rates have increased. Mrs. Redwood did not mention that fact during her presentation.
In fact, a document recently posted on the CDC’s website concluded that the evidence “does not support an association” between thimerosal and any neurodevelopmental disorder. What happened to “radical transparency?”
At a time when America’s public health agencies face serious challenges, including declining vaccination rates because of the erosion of trust in our scientific institutions, the government’s energy is inexplicably being diverted to rehash long-settled science. It’s a waste of time and taxpayer money, and it’s difficult to square with President Trump’s promises to cut waste and govern more efficiently.
These misplaced priorities do, however, align with Mr. Kennedy’s personal opinions on vaccines. In a 2014 book, he claimed that thimerosal causes brain damage, and he has repeatedly linked it to harmful effects despite the scientific evidence to the contrary. Throughout his career, Mr. Kennedy has met with health officials to advocate a ban on thimerosal in vaccines.
Our shared goal must be to advance public health and restore confidence in our institutions. The Department of Health and Human Services should focus on solutions that ensure parents aren’t left confused or scared about routine childhood vaccines or whether those vaccines will be covered by insurance, a key area of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ authority.
Peddling outdated, discredited claims doesn’t “make America healthy again.” It will only make our public health challenges harder to solve. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is too important to be anything less than laser-focused, scientifically rigorous and staffed with unbiased experts capable of reviewing scientific findings carefully and accurately.
Secretary Kennedy, have you no sense of decency, sir?
• Peter J. Pitts, a former associate commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a visiting professor at the University of Paris School of Medicine.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.