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RFK Jr.'s HHS Blasted As CDC Panel Considers Dropping Life-Saving Hepatitis B Vaccine For Newborns
The hep-B vaccine has been universally recommended for newborns in the United States since 1991.
Extensive, vetted, credible medical research shows hep-B infections among infants and children dropped 99% due to the existing vaccine protocol that MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, antivaxxer conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., wants to eliminate.
Hepatitis B is an incurable infection that once contracted, can lead to liver disease, cancer, and early death.
RFK Jr.—a former heroin addict who claims using the drug as a student improved his grades—vowed to his antivaxxer supporters he'd overhaul the children's vaccine schedule. He sang a different tune during his confirmation hearing when he acknowledged "people should not take medical advice" from him and that he'd vaccinate his own children.
Kennedy falsely believes—or claims to believe to the scientifically illiterate people he grifted millions of dollars from—an autism epidemic—that never existed—is caused by vaccines and vowed to find the cause by September of 2025—which he didn't. For people like Kennedy, a child with autism is worse than having a child die from a preventable disease.
But there is zero credible scientific or medical evidence to support his autism vaccination link claim and RFK Jr. has never produced any.
Despite this, Trump's HHS Secretary had the CDC website updated to claim there is a likely connection between vaccines and autism.
RFK Jr. has no training or education in public health, medicine, or the physical sciences.
Kennedy's campaign to reshape vaccination policy has drawn vocal opposition from epidemiology experts and representatives of the major credible medical groups.
Back in September, when the change to hep-B childhood vaccination was first discussed, pediatric infectious disease clinician Dr. Flor Muñoz told the panel:
"A question I've had all along through these discussions is why? Why are we addressing this hepatitis B vaccine recommendation? Is there really a reason?"
No verifiable medical reason has been provided for any of RFK Jr.'s changes that are now dominating HHS and CDC practices.
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Kennedy routinely defends his positions based on what he has or hasn't seen firsthand.
Kennedy has claimed autism and other childhood illnesses and disorders are an epidemic because he never saw neurodivergent, disabled, or chronically ill children when he was a child.
Kennedy was born in 1954. The Americans with Disabilities Act wasn't passed until 1990, which required a free, appropriate, public education in the least restrictive environment for all children with disabilities. Prior to that, disabled children were often either educated in separate, private institutions or not educated at all.
The last of the "Ugly Laws" was stricken in 1974, when Kennedy was 20 years old. Ugly Laws allowed police to arrest and jail people with visible disabilities for the crime of being seen in public.
It's highly likely RFK Jr. never did see disabled or neurodivergent children when he was a child, but not because they didn't exist. His inability, or unwillingness, to make such logical progressions instead of drawing false conclusions is part of why Kennedy is unfit to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy also infamously cut the head off a whale to bring it home, dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park, told the world a worm was found in his brain, and took his grandchildren swimming in sewage-contaminated water despite a U.S. National Park Service ban on entering or even touching the water. RFK Jr. also claims he can tell when children at airports are unhealthy just by looking at them.
The proposed changes to existing vaccine schedules run counter to hours of data presented by the CDC's own scientists throughout the ACIP meetings.
Prior to his confirmation, many in public health warned that Kennedy aimed to bring his antivaxx pseudoscience to HHS.
Once confirmed, Kennedy replaced all 17 members of ACIP with his own handpicked people. Most of his appointees have a history of using antivaxxer rhetoric and promoting disproven or wholly unsubstantiated science and medicine to support their beliefs—just like Kennedy.
After Thursday's ACIP meeting, the qualified, vetted health experts with Defend Public Health issued a statement expressing their shock at the "flood of antivaxxer disinformation" that dominated the proceedings.
Epidemiologist Elizabeth Jacobs of the Defend Public Health Coordinating Committee said:
"The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is no longer a legitimate scientific body. At their meeting today, the primary speakers were a climate scientist and an MBA who are immersed in anti-vaccination misinformation."
"When pressed for evidence to back up their vague but sinister claims alleging harm associated with hepatitis B vaccine, they were unable to do so."
Dr. Jacobs, professor emerita of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Nutritional Sciences at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health and the University of Arizona Cancer Center, added:
"Secretary Kennedy claims that he wants to rid ACIP of conflicts of interest, yet he has organized a group that espouses and promotes anti-vaccination beliefs in the absence of facts."
"Tomorrow, the parade of conflicts of interest will continue with the appearance of an attorney who sues vaccine companies for a living and yet was given a speaking slot at a scientific meeting. He will likely present data from a discredited and unpublished study, as he has done in the past, because he doesn't have the knowledge, training or experience to understand its flaws."
@thebulwark/Bluesky
"At today's meeting, multiple speakers also attempted to re-stigmatize Hepatitis B infection by blaming US cases on 'illegal immigrants,' and tying the condition to men who have sex with men, women having multiple sex partners, immigrants, and urban residence. This is a disgraceful direction for a once scientifically-based committee."
Dr. Jacobs concluded her statement, saying:
"It is an epidemiological crime scene."
And just like the results of RFK Jr.'s work to eliminate childhood vaccinations for measles, if his latest change gets implemented by ACIP, more people will be permanently adversely affected or die from an almost entirely preventable disease.
Bride's Friends Surprise Her With Montage Video Of All Her Exes At Bachelorette Party—And People Are Mortified
But every once in a while a person will come along who we had such a healthy relationship with along the way, keeping in touch almost seems like a no-brainer.
In the days leading up to her wedding with her one true love, TikToker Monica San Luis was enjoying her bachelorette party with her friends when her bridesmaids revealed that they had a special surprise for her.
San Luis can be seen covering her face, mortified, laughing, and going through a whole string of emotions as they played a video that collaged all of her ex-boyfriends, and ended with a message from her fiancé, Dayson.
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were a mixture of amused and mortified at the idea of being reminded of their exes.
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Viewers of the video were curious about the contents of the video, and as it turns out, it was not simply a collage of photos of the ex-boyfriends, or pictures from back when San Luis and the ex in question were together.
The bridesmaids had in fact reached out to each of San Luis's ex-boyfriends, who agreed to record quick videos, talking about what a nice person San Luis was and why she was important to them, before ultimately congratulating her on her upcoming wedding day.
And since San Luis, who is 28, and her fiancé had been together for a decade before deciding to tie the knot, all of these exes were from grade school, which actually kind of makes it adorable.
You can watch the video the bridesmaids put together here:
Some TikTokers amended that this spoke volumes about San Luis as a person if her exes were all willing to do this for her.
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This might be a super cringey thing for most people to receive, but for this TikToker, it seemed to be a great way to celebrate the lives she'd touched and all that she had to look forward to in the future.
TikToker Sparks Debate After Calling Out Driver's Extremely Bright Headlights For Blinding Her
While driving at night, McNee was illuminated in a jarring combination of bright red taillight glow and jarringly bright headlights peering in through her back windshield.
McNee stated firmly:
"I'm sorry, but if your lights are this bright, I literally cannot f**king see."
The TikToker showed a clip of how bright the headlights looked in her rearview mirror, as well as her driver's side mirror.
While looking at the driver's side mirror, which appeared to be filled with a light equivalent to a construction-grade fog light, she added text to the screen:
"I almost saw God."
You can watch the video here:
Many fellow TikTokers agreed with McNee and shared their similar struggles and experiences.
Some simply lamented with McNee, while others pointed out additional problems that could arise from strong headlights, like driving at night with an astigmatism, or driving a smaller car whose line of sight is perfectly aligned with a larger vehicle's headlights.
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But for others, this video opened up a whole conversation about automobile regulations and driver safety.
After all, other colored lights, like the blue LEDs that were popular that people tried to get away with in the early 2000s, are still prohibited, and in most states, drivers have very limited options when it comes to tinting their windows, unless they can acquire a medical note that justifies the modification.
These headlights might be stronger, longer-lasting, and more affordable, but just like every other modification, limits need to be put in place—and currently, the limit seems to be too darn high for many drivers.
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Though we don't talk about this inconvenience very often, overly bright headlights could be enough to compromise a person's vision to the point of being dangerous on the road, through no fault of their own.
This is clearly something that needs to be addressed, because while a person might feel safer with brighter lights because they feel like they can see more of the road and what's going on around them, they could be creating new dangers without even realizing it.