The Most Extreme Voice on RFK Jr.'s New Vaccine Committee
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.
Robert Malone has a history of arguing against the data. He has called for an end to the use of mRNA vaccines for COVID despite the well-established fact that they reduce mortality and severe illness. He has promoted discredited COVID treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, dismissing studies that show they are ineffective against the coronavirus. Recently, he called reports about two girls in West Texas dying from the measles 'misinformation,' even though the doctors who treated the girls were unequivocal in their conclusion.
Now Malone will have a leading role in shaping America's vaccine policy. He is one of eight new members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, replacing the 17 former members whom Robert F. Kennedy Jr. relieved of their duties on Monday. The re-formed committee will be responsible for guiding the CDC's vaccine policy, recommending when and by whom vaccines should be used. The doctors and researchers who make up the new ACIP are all, to some degree, ideological allies of Kennedy, who has spent decades undermining public confidence in vaccines. And Malone arguably has the most extreme views of the group.
Malone, a physician and an infectious-disease researcher, readily acknowledges that he defies mainstream scientific consensus. Just this week, he wrote in his popular Substack newsletter that readers should embrace the anti-vax label, as he has done, and oppose 'the madness of the vaccine mania that has swept public health and government.' (This was only a day before Kennedy pledged that the new ACIP members would not be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.')
He is also openly conspiratorial. In his best-selling book, Lies My Gov't Told Me: And the Better Future Coming, Malone alleges that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's grants to news publications (including The Atlantic) were payments 'to smear' vaccine critics, and accuses Anthony Fauci of fearmongering to amass power. Last fall, Malone and his wife, Jill, released a follow-up, PsyWar, making the case that the U.S. government is engaged in a vague but diabolical program of psychological warfare against its own citizens. According to the Malones, the CIA, FBI, and Defense Department, along with a 'censorship-industrial complex,' have granted the U.S. government 'reality-bending information control capabilities.' (They also claim that 'sexual favors are routinely exchanged to seal short-term alliances, both within agencies and between contractors and 'Govies.'') They envision this corruption spawning a postapocalyptic future in which guns, ammo, horses, and 'a well-developed network of like-minded friends' might be necessary for survival. Malone, who lives on a horse farm in Virginia, appears to be already well prepared.
[Listen: How fragile is our vaccine infrastructure?]
Malone's rise to contrarian glory began in the summer of 2021, when public-health officials were urging hesitant Americans to roll up their sleeves for the new, mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. Back in the 1980s, Malone had conducted research on delivering RNA and DNA into cells, which, he and his co-authors suggested in a 1990 paper, 'may provide alternative approaches to vaccine development.' That early work lent credibility to his dire warnings that the COVID shots hadn't been adequately tested, as perhaps did his grandfatherly beard and professorial demeanor. His popularity grew with appearances on Tucker Carlson's and Glenn Beck's shows, where he questioned the safety and effectiveness of the mRNA vaccines while touting—and, critics said, overstating—his own role in the development of the underlying technology. It was Malone's conspiratorial musings on The Joe Rogan Experience that prompted several famous musicians, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, to pull their music from Spotify in protest of the platform's contract with Rogan. Today, Malone's newsletter, where he shares his anti-vaccine claims and often praises Kennedy, has more than 350,000 subscribers.
Kennedy and Malone have long been intertwined. Kennedy wrote the foreword to Lies My Gov't Told Me and wrote an endorsement for PsyWar, alleging that the same techniques that the Malones described shaped public reaction to the assassinations of his father and uncle. Kennedy's 2021 book, The Real Anthony Fauci—which alleges that the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases spread corruption and fraud—is dedicated to Malone, among others. Since Kennedy was appointed as Health and Human Services secretary, many of his allies in the anti-vaccine world have accused him of moderating his views to be more palatable to lawmakers. But among anti-vaccine activists, Malone's appointment to the advisory board was taken as evidence that Kennedy remains on their side.
Public-health experts, by contrast, are horrified. 'I think that the scientific and medical community won't trust this committee, and for good reason,' Paul Offit, a pediatrician and former member of the advisory group, told me. He's heard from fellow public-health experts who are considering forming their own committees to weigh the evidence, 'because they won't trust the conclusions of these people.' Sean O'Leary, the American Academy of Pediatrics' liaison to ACIP, told me he was 'deeply concerned' with RFK's decision to entirely remake the committee. 'This maneuver really endangers public health. It endangers children,' he said. He worries that it will lead to disease, suffering, and death among adults and children alike. (Neither Malone nor HHS responded to requests for comment. On X, Malone promised to 'do my best to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.')
[Read: RFK Jr. is barely even pretending anymore]
Malone's appointment is perhaps the strongest sign yet of Kennedy's willingness to appoint ideological crusaders into powerful government roles. ACIP's recommendations are nonbinding, but historically, the CDC has almost always hewn to them. The committee's verdicts will help determine which vaccines insurance companies and the federal government pay for, decisions that will inevitably shape countless Americans' immunization habits. Malone's new role requires in-depth, good-faith examinations of scientific evidence. But he has already earned a reputation for rejecting it.
Article originally published at The Atlantic
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Vaccine advisers set to review ingredient in influenza shot
PRESENTED BY The Big Story Coming next week: The first meeting of RFK Jr.'s handpicked vaccine advisory panel. © Photo credit It's the first meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) since Kennedy fired all 17 members and appointed eight new panelists, several of whom are vocal vaccine critics. As part of its scaled-down two-day meeting beginning Wednesday, the committee is set to vote on influenza vaccines that contain thimerosal — an ingredient wrongly linked to autism. Kennedy has long advocated for banning thimerosal, a preservative that was widely used for decades in a number of biological and drug products, including many vaccines. In his 2014 book, Kennedy said thimerosal was 'toxic to brain tissue' and likely caused autism. Thimerosal, a compound that contains mercury, is used as a preservative to prevent harmful bacteria in multidose vials of vaccines. The compound has been largely phased out as manufacturers have shifted toward single-use vials that contain little or no thimerosal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Thimerosal was largely removed from pediatric vaccines by 2001, amid concerns that it could be linked to autism in children. But according to the CDC, 'a robust body of peer-reviewed scientific studies conducted in the U.S. and other countries support the safety of thimerosal-containing vaccines.' The draft agenda for next week's ACIP meeting revisits issues that scientists and public health experts have long considered to be settled, including the use of the measles mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine in children under 5 years old. It's unclear yet what the panel will discuss regarding the shot. The current CDC childhood vaccine schedule recommends two doses for children, with the first dose at age 12-15 months and the second at age 4-6 years. CDC suggests that the MMR vaccine be given rather than MMRV for the first dose, but both shots have been on the schedule for decades. Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Trump administration makes sweeping changes to ObamaCare, ends 'Dreamer' coverage The Trump administration is shortening ObamaCare's annual open enrollment period and ending the law's coverage of immigrants that entered the U.S. illegally as children, according to a final rule announced Friday. The Biden administration made it easier and more affordable to sign up for Affordable Care Act plans, causing enrollment to swell to an all-time high. The Trump administration claims those moves opened a wave … New COVID-19 variant causes 'razor blade throat' Patients and doctors say the latest COVID-19 variant spreading in the U.S. in some cases causes a sore throat so painful it has earned the nickname 'razor blade throat.' The nimbus variant, which is officially known as NB.1.8.1., is a descendant of the omicron and is being monitored by the World Health Organization. 'Your throat is so dry, so cracked, it's so painful, it's even hard to drink sometimes,' Muhammad Azam, … ChatGPT use linked to cognitive decline: MIT research ChatGPT can harm an individual's critical thinking over time, a study released this month suggests. Researchers at MIT's Media Lab asked subjects to write several SAT essays and separated subjects into three groups — using OpenAI's ChatGPT, using Google's search engine and using nothing, which they called the 'brain‑only' group. Each subject's brain was monitored through electroencephalography (EEG), … On Our Radar Upcoming news themes and events we're watching: In Other News Branch out with a different read from The Hill: Agencies they can't enforce anti-trans bias policies against Catholic groups: Judge BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Two federal agencies cannot punish Catholic employers and health care providers if they refuse for religious reasons to provide gender-affirming care to transgender patients or won't provide health insurance coverage for such care to their workers, a federal judge ruled Thursday. The ruling from U.S. District … A MESSAGE FROM ALLIANCE FOR AGING RESEARCH Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care: What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: What Others are Reading Most read stories on The Hill right now: Senate parliamentarian knocks pieces out of Trump's megabill Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled that several key pieces of the massive bill to implement President Trump's agenda run afoul of … Read more Supreme Court rules against FDA, EPA 12:30 Report is The Hill's midday newsletter. Subscribe here or using the box below: Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters … Read more What People Think Opinions related to health submitted to The Hill: You're all caught up. See you next week! Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
US measles count now tops 1,200 cases, and Iowa announces an outbreak
The U.S. logged fewer than 20 measles cases this week, though Iowa announced the state's first outbreak Thursday and Georgia confirmed its second Wednesday. There have been 1,214 confirmed measles cases this year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. Health officials in Texas, where the nation's biggest outbreak raged during the late winter and spring, confirmed six cases in the last week.
The Hill
5 hours ago
- The Hill
New COVID variant causes ‘razor blade throat'
Patients and doctors say the latest COVID-19 variant spreading in the U.S. in some cases causes a sore throat so painful it has earned the nickname 'razor blade throat.' The 'Nimbus' variant, which is officially known as NB.1.8.1., is a descendant of the Omicron is currently being monitored by the World Health Organization. 'Your throat is so dry, so cracked, it's so painful, it's even hard to drink sometimes,' Muhammad Azam, a physician with Sharp Community Medical Group in California, told ABC 10. The variant was first identified in January. It has since been found around the globe, including in Canada and at least 13 states in the U.S. Apart from 'razor blade throat,' it causes symptoms similar to other Omicron variants of the virus, like cough, fever, fatigue, muscle aches, congestion, headache, nausea, vomiting and loss of smell or taste, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 'Sore throat has been a part of the spectrum of COVID from the beginning,' said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. 'It is something that we know occurs just like it occurs with many other respiratory viruses.' Most cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. are still caused by the LP.8.1. strain, but the NB.1.8.1 variant is becoming increasingly prominent. According to CDC data, 38 percent of COVID cases stem from the LP.8.1 strain while 37 percent of COVID cases now stem from the 'Nimbus' variant. The agency notes on its website that, given the low number of virus sequences being reported, its precision is low. NB.1.8.1 does not appear to be any more of a global threat than other variants, according to the WHO. The organization also said that the existing COVID-19 vaccines provide adequate protection against severe illness and hospitalization caused by the new variant. Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, told ABC News that most COVID patients are reporting sore throat. 'I think it's certainly amongst the spectrum of symptoms that you can get, and we know that sore throat is reported by about 70% of patients now with COVID, so it's not unusual, and like with everything in medicine, there's always a spectrum,' he said.
