Dr. Brain Worms Kennedy Jr. has decided he knows better than actual scientists what they should research and publish, implementing a Soviet-style pre-approval system for 23 "controversial" topics at the National Cancer Institute.
RFK Jr.'s team of anti-vaxx conspiracy theorists will review any research touching his personal hot-button issues like vaccines, fluoride, and autism.
From ProPublica:
The list touches on the personal priorities of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has repeatedly promoted medical conspiracy theories and false claims. He has advanced the idea that rising rates of autism are linked to vaccines, a claim that has been debunked by hundreds of scientific studies. He has also suggested that aluminum in vaccines is responsible for childhood allergies (his son reportedly is severely allergic to peanuts). And he has claimed that water fluoridation — which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called "one of the 10 greatest public health achievements of the 20th century" — is an "industrial waste."
"This is micromanagement at the highest level," said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
The new policy requires NCI researchers to get special clearance before publishing anything about these sensitive topics.
"This is real interference in the scientific process," said Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. "It just seems like Big Brother intimidation."
Previously:
• It can't just be the brain worm: what the hell is wrong with RFK, Jr?
• RFK Jr. wants to ship Adderall users to labor camps
• RFK Jr investigated for beheading whale with chainsaw
• RFK Jr.s lawyer petitions to ban Polio vaccine
• Kennedy's former nanny speaks out about alleged groping in family home
• Photographer spills tea on nightmare photo shoot with RFK Jr: 'My experience was at the top of the worst I've had professionally'
