CDC Hires Former Anti-Vaccine Advocate, Raising Concerns

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hiring Lyn Redwood, a nurse and former head of a group criticized for its anti-vaccine stance, to work in its vaccine safety office, according to multiple CDC officials.

Redwood previously led Children's Health Defense, founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who now oversees the CDC as the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Children's Health Defense has taken legal action to limit vaccine requirements, petitioned federal agencies to revoke vaccine authorizations, and disseminated misinformation about vaccines. Kennedy was the group's founder and chairman before assuming his current role in the government.

Redwood will join the CDC office responsible for overseeing much of the agency's work and data related to potential vaccine safety risks. This includes databases used by health officials to collect and analyze reports from the public and healthcare systems. She is expected to be hired as a special government employee, a status often given to advisors and temporary experts brought in for specific projects or committees.

Redwood is also scheduled to present to the agency's new roster of outside vaccine advisors about her concerns regarding the vaccine preservative thimerosal and its potential link to autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The CDC and other groups have previously refuted these concerns.

The CDC has previously cited studies showing no evidence of thimerosal causing neurodevelopmental disorders. The agency's now-deleted report highlighted methodological issues with studies that suggested a link. Children's Health Defense has criticized the CDC's Immunization Safety Office for its efforts to debunk concerns about thimerosal.

Beyond thimerosal, Redwood has also expressed concerns about other vaccine ingredients. In an interview last year, she mentioned aluminum found in the brains of children with autism. The FDA has stated that aluminum added to some vaccines has a proven safety record and that exposure to aluminum is most common through food and water. Redwood has previously worked with a head of the CDC's Immunization Safety Office regarding her concerns about mercury in vaccines.