"The reality is that since Secretary Kennedy has been in office, he has continued his longstanding crusade against vaccines and his advocacy of conspiracy theories that vaccines cause autism — all of which have been repeatedly rejected by scientists," Sanders wrote in a letter to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the committee.
Kennedy has a long history of spreading conspiracy theories on the purported harms of vaccines.
In 2005, he published an article in Salon titled "Deadly Immunity," claiming the federal government and pharmaceutical industry colluded to cover up the alleged harms of thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative used in some vaccines.
This article was later retracted over what Salon magazine's then-editor-in-chief Joan Walsh referred to as "flaws and even fraud."
Cassidy, a physician and proponent of immunization, gave Kennedy numerous opportunities during his confirmation process to renounce his belief that vaccines are linked to autism.
Kennedy said he would do so "if you show me data" but was unmoved when the senator presented him with a meta-analysis of prior vaccine studies that failed to find a link between immunizations and autism.
Sanders asked Cassidy to schedule a hearing on the "truth about vaccines and autism based on scientific evidence" as soon as possible.
"Such a hearing would provide an opportunity for leading scientists, physicians, and public health experts to review the existing body of research on autism, discuss how federal agencies evaluate scientific evidence, and clarify what is known - and what is still being studied - about autism," wrote Sanders.
"Importantly, it would also allow the Committee to hear from members of the autism community about their priorities for federal research, services, and support."
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