Deadly Immunity
{{Short description|2005 article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Alternative medicine sidebar|conspiracy}}
"Deadly Immunity" is an article written by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. that appeared in the July 14, 2005 issue of Rolling Stone and, simultaneously, on the website Salon.{{cite journal |last1=Moreno |first1=Joelle |title=Toxic Torts, Autism, and Bad Science: Why the Courts May Be Our Best Defense Against Scientific Relativism |journal=New England Law Review |date=2006 |volume=40 |pages=409 |url=https://ecollections.law.fiu.edu/faculty_publications/34/ |ssrn=884465 }} The article is focused on the 2000 Simpsonwood CDC conference and claims that thimerosal-containing vaccines caused autism,{{cite web | url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/rolling-stone-retracts-autism-article-but-lots-of-junk-journalism-remains/ | title=Rolling Stone Retracts Autism Article, but Lots of Junk Journalism Remains | work=CBS News | date=22 January 2011 | accessdate=22 November 2015 | author=Edwards, Jim}} as well as the theory that government health agencies have "colluded with Big Pharma to hide the risks of thimerosal from the public."{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/robert-kennedy-jrs-belief-in-autism-vaccine-connection-and-its-political-peril/2014/07/16/f21c01ee-f70b-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html | title=Robert Kennedy Jr.'s belief in autism-vaccine connection, and its political peril | newspaper=The Washington Post | date=18 July 2014 | accessdate=22 November 2015 | author=Kloor, Keith | author-link=Keith Kloor}} The article had originally been fact-checked and published in print by Rolling Stone, but posted online by Salon. The article was retracted by Salon on January 16, 2011, in response to criticisms of the article as inaccurate.
Reactions
"Deadly Immunity" was heavily criticized for quoting material out of context and its wholly specious claim that RotaTeq, a live attenuated vaccine, contained Thimerosal.{{cite web |last=Mole |first=Beth |date=30 April 2025 |title=RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory |url=https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/04/rfk-jr-s-anti-vaccine-stance-is-rooted-in-a-disbelief-in-germ-theory |website=ars TECHNICA |location=US |access-date=3 May 2025}} Both Rolling Stone and Salon amended the story with corrections in response to these and other criticisms,{{cite web | url=http://www.salon.com/2011/01/16/dangerous_immunity/ | title=Correcting our record | work=Salon.com | date=16 January 2011 | accessdate=22 November 2015 | author=Lauerman, Kerry}} with the former publication eventually deleting the article and the latter retracting it.{{cite web |last=Mole |first=Beth |date=30 April 2025 |title=RFK Jr. rejects cornerstone of health science: Germ theory |url=https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/04/rfk-jr-s-anti-vaccine-stance-is-rooted-in-a-disbelief-in-germ-theory |website=ars TECHNICA |location=US |access-date=3 May 2025}} Criticisms included that Kennedy had incorrectly claimed that the amount of mercury children received from thimerosal-containing vaccines was 187 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's limit for methylmercury exposure. The correction later posted to the article on Salon stated that the actual amount, 187 micrograms, is only 40% greater than this limit.{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/health/la-xpm-2011-jan-25-lat-heb-autism-vaccines--01252011-story.html | title=Autism-vaccine article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed from Salon.com's website | work=Los Angeles Times | date=25 January 2011 | access-date=22 November 2015 | author=Mestel, Rosie}} Within days after running the piece, Salon had appended five corrections to it.{{cite web | url=http://www.nationalreview.com/planet-gore/377103/did-robert-f-kennedy-jr-tell-chelsea-clinton-forego-immunizations-her-baby-greg | title=Did Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tell Chelsea Clinton to Forego Immunizations for Her Baby? | work=National Review | date=2 May 2014 | accessdate=23 November 2015 | author=Pollowitz, Greg}}
Salon later amended their amendment to the story by adding "it has become clear from responses to the article that the forty-percent number, while accurate, is misleading. It measures the total mercury load an infant received from vaccines during the first six months, calculates the daily average received based on average body weight, and then compares that number to the EPA daily limit. But infants did not receive the vaccines as a "daily average" -- they received massive doses on a single day, through multiple shots. As the story states, these single-day doses exceeded the EPA limit by as much as 99 times. Based on the misunderstanding, and to avoid further confusion, we have amended the story to eliminate the forty-percent figure."{{Cite web |date=2011-05-01 |title=Salon: Corrections: 2005 |url=http://www.salon.com/letters/corrections/2005/index.html |access-date=2023-06-26 |archive-date=May 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110501040223/http://www.salon.com/letters/corrections/2005/index.html |url-status=dead }}
Retraction by Salon
On January 16, 2011, Salon announced that it was retracting "Deadly Immunity". In a statement on the website, Kerry Lauerman, Salon's editor-in-chief, explained that in addition to five corrections they had previously made to the story, "subsequent critics, including most recently, Seth Mnookin in his book "The Panic Virus," further eroded any faith we had in the story's value." Phil Plait hailed the retraction of the article, writing, "I applaud Salon for doing this, but wish it had been done years ago, or better, that Salon had never published Kennedy's piece at all."{{cite web | url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2011/01/16/salon_mag_pulls_dangerous_and_fallacious_antivax_article.html | title=Salon mag pulls dangerous and fallacious antivax article | work=Slate.com | date=16 January 2011 | accessdate=22 November 2015 | author=Plait, Phil}} In 2023, Salon editor Joan Walsh wrote that this was the worst mistake of her career and justified firing her, but her position was secured due to Jann Wenner sitting on the board of Salon.{{Cite magazine |magazine=The Nation |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/rfk-jr-vaccine-disinformation/ |title=Just Another RFK Jr. Lie. I Know, Because It's About Me. |last=Walsh |first=Joan |language=en-US |date=2023-06-22 |accessdate=2023-06-23 |department=Politics |issn=0027-8378}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160328154622/http://www.robertfkennedyjr.com/articles/2005_june_16.html Deadly Immunity]. Internet Archive.
{{Robert F. Kennedy Jr.}}
Category:Rolling Stone articles
Category:Thiomersal and vaccines
Category:Anti-vaccination in the United States