Arthur Allen — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:24:30 GMT

It has been discredited, actually, by a wealth of studies. I’ve been following this story since its inception. In fact, I bear a share of responsibility for creating the mess, because I wrote a NYTimes Magazine article in 2002 “The Not-so-Crackpot Autism Theory” that raised the possibility that there was something to the theory of harm from thimerosal. Since then, scientific evidence has demolished the theory.

I’ve reviewed all the documents that RFK Jr. says he saw, and then some, believe me. I like the Kennedys and had only respect for Bobby Jr. until he started his misinformed rants about thimerosal, which are completely erroneous and off base. Here’s an early piece of mine [http://www.slate.com/id/2123647/] in which I critiqued RFK Jr’s argument. There is a ton of good evidence out there showing that thimerosal doesn’t cause harm. The only people who continue to cling to the theory are a handful of scientists who bought into it and have published results of little significance in marginal journals, and a few professional court witnesses, like David and Mark Geier, who have no real expertise, publish laughably stupid papers, and treat autistic children with dangerous protocols based on unfounded scientific theories. Them, and parents (and grandparents, such as Rep Dan Burton, R-Ind., who was educated in Bible School but held 12 or so hearings into the theory without succeeding at making a dent in it) who for one reason or another need to blame someone for their child’s condition.

The Washington Independent - U.S. news and politics - washingtonindependent.com: Comments by Arthur Allen