Remember polio?
RFKJ’s antivax lawyer is fighting to bring it back. You know, to protect people from … who the fuck knows what!
Mitch McConnell - a polio survivor - lost his shit. Even Twitler thinks it’s a goofy idea.
Just another day in MAGAville. Sorry for the long read. Read it all at the link below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/13/h...-vaccines.html
Kennedy’s Lawyer Has Asked the F.D.A. to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine
Aaron Siri, who specializes in vaccine lawsuits, has been at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s side reviewing candidates for top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dec. 13, 2024
The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death.
That campaign is just one front in the war that the lawyer, Aaron Siri, is waging against vaccines of all kinds.
Mr. Siri has also filed a petition seeking to pause the distribution of 13 other vaccines; challenged, and in some cases quashed, Covid vaccine mandates around the country; sued federal agencies for the disclosure of records related to vaccine approvals; and subjected prominent vaccine scientists to grueling videotaped depositions.
Much of Mr. Siri’s work — including the polio petition filed in 2022 — has been on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network, a nonprofit whose founder is a close ally of Mr. Kennedy. Mr. Siri also represented Mr. Kennedy during his presidential campaign.
Mr. Kennedy, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice for health secretary, has said that he does not want to take away access to any vaccines. But as he prepares for his confirmation hearing and plans a fresh health agenda, his continuing close partnership with Mr. Siri suggests that vaccine policy will be under sharp scrutiny. It is a chilling prospect to many public health leaders, especially those who recall the deadly toll of some vaccine-mitigated diseases.
At the Trump transition headquarters in Florida, Mr. Siri has joined Mr. Kennedy in questioning and choosing candidates for top health positions, according to someone who observed the interactions but insisted on anonymity to disclose private conversations. They have asked candidates about their views of vaccines, the person said.
Mr. Kennedy has privately expressed interest in having Mr. Siri serve in the Health and Human Services Department’s top legal job, general counsel. However, Mr. Siri has suggested he may have more influence outside the administration. At his law firm, Siri & Glimstad, he oversees about 40 professionals working on vaccine cases and policy.
“Somebody on the outside needs to be petitioning them,” he said on a podcast in late November.
Either way, it’s clear that his voice will be heard at the highest levels.
“I love Aaron Siri,” Mr. Kennedy said in a clip played on a recent episode of a podcast hosted by Del Bigtree, who is Mr. Kennedy’s former campaign communications director and the founder of the Informed Consent Action Network, which describes itself as a “medical freedom” nonprofit. “There’s nobody who’s been a greater asset to the medical freedom movement than him.”
Like Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Siri insists he does not want to take vaccines away from anyone who wants them. “You want to get the vaccine — it’s America, a free country.” he told Arizona legislators last year after laying out his concerns about the vaccines for polio and other illnesses.
He did not mention the petitions he has lodged on behalf of ICAN with the Food and Drug Administration, asking regulators to withdraw or suspend approval of vaccines not only for polio, but also for hepatitis B.
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the F.D.A. to “pause distribution” of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
Mr. Siri declined to be interviewed, but said all of his petitions were filed on behalf of clients. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, said Mr. Siri has been advising Mr. Kennedy but has not discussed his petitions with any of the health nominees. She added, “Mr. Kennedy has long said that he wants transparency in vaccines and to give people choice.”
If the Senate confirms Mr. Kennedy as health secretary, he will oversee the F.D.A. In that capacity, he could take the rare step of intervening in the F.D.A.’s review of the petitions.
Vaccines undergo extensive testing before they are approved, and are monitored for safety after they come on the market. The process of taking an established drug off the market can be lengthy. The F.D.A. would need to outline a new safety concern in writing and give the vaccine’s maker a chance to respond. The F.D.A. would then hold a hearing and render a decision. If the company did not agree with the outcome, it could sue.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy have spoken about vaccines, the president-elect told Time magazine in an interview published Thursday. Mr. Trump pledged to do “very serious testing” and to get rid of some vaccines “
if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial.”.
Continue reading this silly shit here.
COVID SHMOVID! Let’s bring back polio!
