Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reignited the debate over the now largely discontinued use of thimerasol as a preservative in children's vaccine. An article by Kennedy, which appears in this month's Rolling Stone and is also published online at Salon.com, alleges a massive conspiracy involving major pharma companies, federal authorities and other powerful groups to cover up a link between autism and mercury content in vaccines.
The article's publication led to immediate calls from autism groups for an investigation of the charges. Physician bloggers, however, were quick to pounce, calling the piece "pseudoscience," "hogwash," and "worse." One published a several thousand word post debunking Kennedy's evidence and gave visitors links to government and pharma industry documents contradicting his article's claims.
- see this story from Salon.com
- see this blog entry from Orack Knows