Bob Park’s What’s New: June 27, 2025
No, Bob Park — the physicist who wrote the What’s New newsletter for years — did not write this. Instead, I am imagining what Park would have said were he alive today. The opinions are mine and not necessarily those of Bob Park (but they should be).
What’s New, by Bob Park
Friday, June 27, 2025
1. CASSIDY VERSUS KENNEDY
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a Republican, criticized Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr for his selection of new members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices. Cassidy wrote on Twitter “Although the appointees to ACIP have scientific credentials, many do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology. In particular, some lack experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.” Cassidy is a medical doctor and was a key vote in confirming Kennedy. He claims that in a private meeting leading up to the Senate confirmation vote Kennedy promised him he would make no changes to the ACIP (which Kennedy denied this week). Cassidy says “Wednesday’s meeting should not proceed with a relatively small panel, and no CDC Director in place to approve the panel’s recommendations. The meeting should be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation — as required by law — including those with more direct relevant expertise.” That didn’t happen.
2. MERCURY AND VACCINES
One topic the ACIP debated this week is the presence of thimerosal, a mercury containing compound, in some vaccines. RFK Jr has claimed that thimerosal is associated with the development of autism and other neurological disorders. Few vaccines today contain thimerosal, although the flu vaccine does. A 2014 article in the journal Vaccine (Volume 32, Pages 3623–3629), titled “Vaccines are Not Associated with Autism: En Evidence-Based Meta-Analysis of Care-Control and Cohort Studies” was written by Luke Taylor, Amy Swerdfeger, and Guy Eslick. They concluded that “Findings of this meta-analysis suggest that vaccinations are not associated with the development of autism or autism spectrum disorder. Furthermore, the components of the vaccines (thimerosal or mercury) or multiple vaccines (MMR) are not associated with the development of autism or autism spectrum disorder.” Dr. Andrea Love, an immunologist and author of the website immunologic.org, wrote “thimerosal has been studied and cross-examined at length for neurotoxic effects and researchers have failed to find a link between thimerosal and neurological disorders.”
3. INDIRECT COSTS CAP IS INVALID, ARBITRARY, AND CAPRICIOUS
A federal judge ruled against a 15% cap on indirect costs for National Science Foundation grants. Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts found the cap to be “invalid, arbitrary and capricious, and contrary to law.” Of course, this decision can be appealed and this issue is far from settled. But at least for now crucial indirect costs — which are vital for scientific research — are not being limited to 15%.
4. WILL THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL GUT GREEN ENERGY?
Congress is currently debating the One Big Beautiful Bill (I’m not being sarcastic, that’s the act’s real name). President Trump wants the bill to repeal clean energy tax credits that were imposed by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. Senate Republicans are divided on this issue, which benefits many red states. What is missing from the debate is the effect these tax credits have on climate change. In other words, what is missing is the science. To further complicate the issue, this week the Senate Parliamentarian found that several provisions of the bill would violate the Byrd Rule and therefore it would be subject to a filibuster. The Republicans don’t have 60 votes in the Senate, but the Senate Majority Leader can overrule the Parliamentarian. Will the Republican War on Science kill green energy and worsen global warming? Stay tuned.
5. PEDIATRICIANS VERSUS KENNEDY
Here is a quote from the American Academy of Pediatrics website. Parents, ask your pediatrician about this!
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) new vaccine advisers announced Wednesday they will be conducting a review of the child and adolescent vaccine schedules, a move the AAP criticized as aiming to sow distrust in immunizations. The AAP said it will continue to publish its own evidence-based recommendations and schedules. The AAP has provided vaccine recommendations for its entire 95-year history. ‘What we heard in this meeting was really a false narrative that the current vaccine policies are flawed and that they need fixing,’ Sean T. O’Leary, M.D., M.P.H., FAAP, chair of the AAP Committee on Infectious Diseases, said in a press conference. ‘That’s completely false. These policies have saved millions of lives, trillions of dollars.’”