RFK Jr. ~ Who is this guy?

 I didn’t know much about Robert Kennedy Jr. so I decided to watch a few interviews of him, after finding some on YouTube. People such as Megyn Kelly, who has worked at Fox News and NBC, and Michael Smerconish, who has a show on CNN, and other people less well known, have published interviews on their YouTube channels. The reason I didn’t know much about this guy is that he never went into politics, but instead, became an environmental lawyer, suing corporations that were accused of polluting. He’s been doing this for 35-40 years. He tells the story about a group of friends that spent a lot of time fishing on the Hudson River, and years ago they noticed the fish were being negatively affected, by something, so they looked and discovered a company that was dumping effluent into the Hudson, and they tested what was going into the river, and I believe they found mercury. It seems that a coal fired plant produces mercury, which is toxic, not just to fish, but to humans. They sued the company and won, and his career was started as an environmental lawyer. 

Prior to his decision to run for President, RFK Jr. was known as the guy who claims that childhood vaccines cause autism.  Listening to him explain his reasoning, I concluded that he is not an antivaxxer, but does believe there may be a link between vaccines and autism. He said he noticed years ago that there seemed to be an increase in chronic childhood diseases, such as asthma, diabetes, peanut allergies, and autism, and asked his “team” to investigate. As an environmental lawyer, suing companies like Monsanto, and claiming that Roundup causes human disease, he had assembled a team of chemists, biologists, and doctors to testify in court, as “expert witnesses.” His team of scientists discovered that childhood chronic disease started increasing around 1989, so he wanted to know what happened at that time period, which might explain the sudden increase in childhood diseases. In 1986 congress passed the “National Childhood Vaccine Act of 1986”, which removes vaccine makers from being sued for adverse reactions to vaccines. In its place, a federally funded program was created, the “National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.” The following is a quote from the program; “Provides that compensation awarded under the Program shall be paid out of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Trust Fund. Limits awards for actual and projected pain and suffering and emotional distress to $250,000. Prohibits awards for punitive damages.” 

The reason this “Act” was created, according to one article I read, is that vaccine makers were pulling out of making vaccines, leaving only 4 vaccine manufacturers. The main reason behind the companies moving out of vaccine manufacturing, again, according to the article, was that there were so many lawsuits against vaccine makers it was getting more difficult to be profitable. Because of this, RFK Jr. stated in one of the interviews, vaccine makers had less incentive to be very careful when bringing a vaccine to market. They couldn’t be sued. I think this “Act” caused him to be suspicious of vaccine makers. This time period also saw an increase in the number of vaccines that children are required to get to attend public schools. The hepatitis b vaccine was required in CA schools in 1999. The DTap vaccine was introduced in 1991. The Varicella vaccine (chickenpox) was approved in the US in 1995. The MMR vaccine was approved in 1971. The Polio vaccine has been around since the 1950’s. By the time a CA student enters the 7^th grade, they would have been vaccinated for protection against 9 diseases.