American Commitment digs up that 2008 statement from Obama discussing whether the increased rate of autism is connected to vaccines; he says it is “inconclusive.”

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Obama’s reference to “this person” who thinks autism is connected to vaccines is not referring to himself but a person in the audience; he says, “the science is inconclusive, but we have to research it.”

It wasn’t that inconclusive. Some of Obama’s defenders are saying he shouldn’t be criticized for this statement, because the study published in The Lancet asserting a connection between vaccines and autism wasn’t officially retracted until 2010. But long before then, the Lancet study had plenty of doubters and medical researchers vehemently disputing it. Back in 2008, the Centers for Disease Control stated, “The government has made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism.”

Besides the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Institute of Medicine, the New England Journal of Medicine and other prestigious medical organizations maintained there is no known link between vaccines and autism, and ran studies disputing the conclusion of the Lancet study.

Notice the coverage of Chris Christie this morning suggested that he’s the worst person ever because he feels there’s some room for parental rights or parental refusal of vaccines… but there’s less media anger and denunciation for a figure such as, say, Robert Kennedy Jr., who is an outspoken believer in the idea that the ingredients in some vaccines can cause autism:

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Institute of Medicine, no evidence supports a link between thimerosal and any brain disorders, including autism. But parental concerns of such an association in the 1990s spurred vaccine fears. This owed to a confluence of factors: highly publicized warnings of mercury-contaminated fish; rising awareness and diagnoses of autism; and vaccines added to the childhood schedule. The CDC urged vaccine makers to remove thimerosal as a precautionary measure.
Some parents took this as proof of thimerosal’s harm. The controversy, which Kennedy helped fuel in the 2000s with a notorious, widely publicized article, prompted additional vaccine fears that linger to this day.

I know, I know, he’s a Kennedy, the rules are different for him.