Fact check
Is it true: RFK Jr. anti-vaccine activism / Children's Health Defense (1998-present)?
No — this has been debunked.
The vaccine-autism claim derives from the Wakefield 1998 Lancet paper, retracted 2010 after confirmed data fabrication; Wakefield struck off by the GMC. The thimerosal-mercury hypothesis was refuted by the 2004 IOM report and Hviid et al. 2003 (NEJM, n=530,000) among numerous subsequent studies. Autism rates rose after thimerosal removal, directly contradicting the hypothesis. No causal link between MMR vaccination and autism has been established in the peer-reviewed literature.
The claim
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted vaccine-autism and vaccine-injury claims since the early 2000s, founding the World Mercury Project (later Children's Health Defense) to advance those claims. The fou
Key evidence
Vaccine-injury claims have generated sustained parental concern despite refutation
Wakefield 1998 Lancet paper retracted 2010 — data fabrication confirmed
Conspirafy steelmans each claim, then follows the evidence. How we reach a verdict · Check another claim