We just talked about how the majority of the American public either believes that RFK Jr. recommends they not get the MMR vaccine that protects people from measles, or are otherwise unsure of what his stance even is on the topic. When Kennedy sycophants (sickophants?) attempt to point at all the times Kennedy has said he recommends people get vaccinated for measles, that polling is the only retort needed. Because Kennedy routinely talks out of both sides of his mouth on the topic, both stating that people should be vaccinated while also claiming that the vaccines cause all kinds of harms and deaths, he’s created a confusing and confused message that allows him to say he’s not an anti-vaxxer. It’s bullshit, most of us know it’s bullshit, and Kennedy definitely knows it’s bullshit. When Kennedy headlines an anti-vaxxer group conference, however, what he actually believes is laid bare.
Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes. So, as the country continues to suffer through the worst measles outbreak in decades, one which has now killed its 6th victim in Pennsylvania, what is Kennedy doing about it? The answer appears to be trying to bribe doctors to report more vaccine injuries as he sets up an NIH clinic designed to “study” vaccine injuries.
In a press announcement Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) laid out four aspects of the large-scale initiative. The first is a new clinic at the National Institutes of Health that is “dedicated to studying and caring for patients experiencing health problems following vaccination.” Despite only being announced today, the clinic actually opened October 5, and Kennedy secretly attended its ribbon-cutting ceremony alongside other high-level Trump administration officials. It’s unclear why his visit and the clinic’s opening were not disclosed by the Trump administration, but they were reported by Bloomberg Law at the time.
Another aspect of the initiative is a proposal to reimburse doctors for reporting possible injuries from vaccines to a federal system called VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System). VAERS, which is run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a common focus of anti-vaccine advocates, who incessantly misuse it. The system is meant to be an indiscriminate dragnet of any potential safety concerns linked to vaccines, providing a sensitive early warning monitoring system. Anyone, including members of the public, can submit an unvetted report.
VAERS has always been used by the anti-vaxxer crowd to try to legitimize their bullshit claims. Because that platform is open to anyone who wants to make a vaccine injury claim, it is overflowing with claims of injury that end up having nothing to do with vaccinations. I can go in there right now and claim that the MMR vaccine I got as a child made my left ear fall off. Reviewers of the platform will find that to be a false claim, but it’s in the system nonetheless. Or, if you want a more horrifying example, a woman could allegedly suffocate her twin 1 year old children, but then report the deaths as vaccine injuries before she gets charged with murder. That’s how wide open this platform is to reporting errors and fraud.
And now, Kennedy is going to spend your money to solicit more of these claims from doctors.
In addition to providing a financial incentive for doctors to submit reports, the HHS is also working to overhaul VAERS to make it “simpler, more accessible, and easier to use.” That includes making the reporting system available on mobile devices—so doctors can report vaccine injuries on the go—and adding more tools for researchers studying vaccine injuries. The CDC has already awarded a nearly $1 million contract to a Virginia-based Christian tech company called SPN Solutions Inc.
Lastly, Kennedy’s initiative will also require electronic health records to include information about vaccine injuries. This requirement will be carried out through the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, which oversees federal health information technology standards. HHS said that by adding vaccine injuries to electronic medical records, healthcare providers will have a “more complete picture of a patient’s medical history.”
It’s hard to overstate just how insidious this is. Kennedy is going to financially incentivize doctors who are willing to claim vaccine injuries to do more of that, then append those claims of injury to patient medical records. The fraud that is going to occur here is multiplicative. First taxpayer money will be used to generate more claims of vaccine injury, then those patients’ future medical care will be altered by those same fraudulent claims.
“Somehow the Trump-RFK Jr. anti-vax agenda keeps getting more corrupt and dangerous,” Brad Woodhouse, president of Protect Our Care, said in a statement Thursday. “Now Secretary Kennedy wants to bribe doctors to claim they see vaccine harm without proof, which is just asking for higher insurance costs and a rash of waste, fraud and abuse.”
This is going to result in poorer health outcomes for many, many people. Kennedy doesn’t care about that. Sociopaths never concern themselves with the outcomes for others when their own interests are at stake.
No, Kennedy will use this plan to generate more “evidence” of his preconceived claims. It’s false-proof manufactured on the public’s dime, which will only lead to worse health outcomes for all involved and the further eroding of vaccination numbers. All as we’re dealing with an outbreak of a disease we were supposed to have effectively eliminated more than two decades ago.
Get this ass out of government the moment the November elections are over, if at all possible.
