Jump to content

Children's Health Defense

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the children's rights and educational non-profit, see Children's Defense Fund.

Children's Health Defense
Formation2007; 17 years ago (2007)
FounderEric Gladen
Founded atWashington, D.C.
TypeAdvocacy group
Location
Chairman
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
On leave since April 2023
Vice Chairman
J.B. Handley
Brian Hooker, Katie Wright, Mary Holland, Terena Thyne Eisner
Websitechildrenshealthdefense.org
Formerly called
World Mercury Project
Part of a series on
Alternative medicine
General information
Fringe medicine and science
Controversies
Classifications
Traditional medicine
Alternative diagnoses

Children's Health Defense (CHD) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit activist group mainly known for anti-vaccine disinformation, and which has been called one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines.[1][2][3][4][5] Founded under the name World Mercury Project in 2007, it is chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[6][7]

The group has been campaigning against various public health programs, such as vaccination and fluoridation of drinking water.[8] The group has been contributing to vaccine hesitancy in the United States, encouraging citizens and legislators to support anti-vaccine regulations and legislation,[9][10] even though arguments against vaccination are contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.[11][12][13][14]

The group's US$15-million budget is funded through donations from individuals (both directly and anonymized through foundations) and affiliate marketing revenues.

Background

Founded by anti-vaccination activist Eric Gladen in 2007, the World Mercury Project was a relatively minor group. In 2014, it had annual revenue of $13,000, which jumped to $470,000 in revenue in 2015, when Kennedy joined the board. In 2018 it changed its name to Children's Health Defense.[1][15][16]

The group alleges that a large proportion of American children have conditions as diverse as autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, food allergies, cancer, and autoimmune diseases due to exposure to a variety of chemicals and radiation.[17] The chemicals and radiation that the group has blamed and campaigned against include vaccines, pesticides, fluoridation of drinking water, paracetamol (acetaminophen), aluminum, wireless communications.[18][19] It has brought lawsuits targeting pesticides in food and agriculture.[20]

Alleging widespread corruption within health care research and collusion by multiple governments, the group endorsed a 2017 edition of the book Judy Mikovits wrote about her discredited theories, with Kennedy writing the foreword.[8] Kennedy's book The Real Anthony Fauci, published in 2021, repeats several discredited myths about the COVID-19 pandemic, notably about the effectiveness of ivermectin.[7] During the pandemic, the group accused the United States government of supporting research on a vaccine as part of a plan to increase revenues for the pharmaceutical industry.[17]

The growth of the group during the pandemic gave rise to international chapters, notably in Canada, Europe and Australia.[7]

Robert F. Kennedy Jr's involvement

Children's Health Defense is an influential anti-vaccine organization due to the prominence of its chairman, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.[9][10][8] In April 2023, Kennedy took leave when he started his campaign as candidate for the position of President of the United States. As a non-profit group, Children's Health Defense may not endorse political candidates, but in November 2023, the group gave its first Defender Award to Kennedy for "his courage and steadfast commitment to truth and liberty".[21]

Despite Kennedy's claims that he is not against vaccines,[8][22][23] several critics point out he and his organization spread common anti-vaccine arguments as part of their core messages. According to David Gorski, the World Mercury project was "a group dedicated to fear mongering over mercury in vaccines as a cause of autism and health problems". Kennedy has stated the media and governments are engaged in a conspiracy to deny that vaccines cause autism.[10][24] Other misinformation promoted by Children's Health Defense is a conspiracy theory in relation to the Great Reset that claims that elites, including Bill Gates, plan to take over the United States and establish a Marxist high-control regime.[25]

Kennedy met with Donald Trump in January 2017. While Kennedy claimed the President agreed to establish a commission to study the risks allegedly associated with vaccines, government officials denied any decision was taken and nothing subsequently came of it.[26][27]

On February 15, 2017, with other anti-vaccination activists and actor Robert De Niro at his side, Kennedy challenged anybody to prove the use of thimerosal is safe "in the amounts contained in vaccines currently being administered to American children and pregnant women", ignoring a 1999 Food and Drug Administration review doing just that. Although the use of thimerosal in vaccines was phased out by 2001 (with one exception), this mercury compound is still often mentioned by anti-vaccination groups.[10][28][29] Overwhelming evidence indicates that vaccines are safe and effective.[10][24]

On May 8, 2019, while some areas in the United States were struggling with a resurgence of measles due to low vaccination rates, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, Joseph P. Kennedy, and Maeve Kennedy McKean publicly stated that while their relative Robert had championed many admirable causes, he "has helped to spread dangerous misinformation over social media and is complicit in sowing distrust of the science behind vaccines."[30]

Kennedy's compensation has risen with the nonprofit's revenue. According to Politico, his salary was $131,000 in 2017, rising to $345,000 in 2020, and eventually totaling $500,000 for 2021 and 2022.[31][32] In 2023, Kennedy was paid $326,000 for 15 weeks of work before taking leave to run for president.[33]

Anti-vaccination campaigns

Children's Health Defense uses social media and internet advertising to propagate anti-vaccination messages, targeting young parents and minorities in the United States.[1][2] During the COVID-19 pandemic, those communications attempted to downplay the risk posed by the virus, to argue the new vaccines are dangerous, and to undermine public health authorities. The Center for Countering Digital Hate identifies the group as one of the leaders of the anti-vaccination movement online.[3] In August 2022, the organization's accounts on Meta platforms, Facebook and Instagram, were terminated for repeatedly breaching the platforms' policies.[34] While Instagram removed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s account from its platform in February 2021, it did not take any measure against the Children's Health Defense account. Between Instagram and Facebook, the organization had a reach of 300,000 subscribers in 2021.[35][36][37]

The organization also organized rallies against public health measures aiming at mitigating the impact of the pandemic, such as the one in Washington on January 23, 2022. This particular demonstration featured other leaders of the American anti-vaccination movement such as Del Bigtree; both Kennedy and Bigtree compared vaccine mandates to oppression in Nazi-occupied countries during World War II. The demonstration was also attended by a group from neo-fascist organization Proud Boys.[38][39][40]

CHD targets Black Americans with messaging linking COVID-19 vaccination with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and other instances when ethical violations have been committed against minorities as part of medical studies. Such interventions are likely to hurt the Black community by increasing vaccine hesitancy within that vulnerable population.[41] Echoing other actors in the anti-vaccination movement and Nation of Islam, Children's Health Defense claims that the United States government seeks to harm ethnic minorities by prioritizing them for COVID vaccines. The conspiracy theory is elaborated upon in an hour-long video production Medical Racism: The New Apartheid released in March 2021 by Children's Health Defense and Kennedy. The video also contains recycled anti-vaccination stories about autism, Bill Gates and the Centers for Disease Control. Like other such conspiracy theory videos, it inserts true historical events into its narrative to make its fantastic claims appear more believable.[1][42]

The organization's social media channels have been shown to amplify conspiracy theories common to other anti-vaccination groups as well as QAnon, such as the "Great Reset" and the "Deep state".[3][43][44] A regular output of videos under the heading of "CHD TV" presents their audience with commentary and interviews related to various conspiracy theories.[45]

A study found Children's Health Defense was one of major buyers of anti-vaccine Facebook advertising in December 2018 and February 2019, the other being Stop Mandatory Vaccination. Heavily targeting women and young couples, the advertising highlighted the alleged risks of vaccines and asked for donations.[2][46] According to an analysis by NBC News, the group is one of three major sources of false claims on vaccination shared on the internet, the other two being the fake news site Natural News and the website Stop Mandatory Vaccination.[4] Facebook subsequently refused to carry anti-vaccination advertising from the group.[47][1]

Children's Health Defense said that the efficacy of its non-advertising Facebook campaigns has been greatly affected by the platform taking additional measures against misinformation in 2019. In a lawsuit filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in August 2020, against Facebook and four fact-checking services, the group said the viewership of some of its posts on vaccination and 5G wireless was reduced by 95% after they were labelled as misinformation. Even though those messages were allowed to be posted by the group and shared by users, Children Health Defense argues that labelling them as misinformation amounts to censorship; they allege their messages are presented merely as opinions rather than information and as such, cannot be characterized as misinformation.[8][47][48][49] The organization is seeking $5 million in damages.[1]

CHD's film division produced the 2024 video production Vaxxed III: Authorized To Kill. Promoted as a sequel of the 2016 Vaxxed, it presents testimonies of people who were allegedly injured following being vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic.[50][51]

In January 2023, CHD filed a complaint alleging the efforts of major news outlets to limit the spread of COVID-19 misinformation amount to a violation to the Sherman Antitrust Act. The complaint targets The Washington Post, the BBC, Associated Press and Reuters. Along with CHD and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the plaintiffs include other major spreaders of misinformation, including Joseph Mercola, Ty and Charlene Bollinger, Erin Elizabeth, Ben Tapper, Ben Swann and Jim Hoft. They present themselves as "online news publishers" victimized by media policies aiming at providing accurate reporting of COVID-related information.[52][53] The case will be heard by United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk.[54]

Funding

From $13,000 in annual revenue in 2014, World Mercury Project brought in $470,000 in revenue in 2015, when Kennedy joined the organization. Its revenues increased to $1.1 million in 2018. With the group becoming a major disinformation hub during the COVID-19 pandemic, its revenue reached $6.8 million in 2020, $15 million in 2021, counting among its new donors LimeWire's founder Mark Gorton,[7][55] and $23.5 million in 2022.[32] With Kennedy on leave from his position for most of 2023, the group's revenue fell to $16 million.[56]

The charitable foundations of several major investment firms funneled anonymized donations to Children's Health Defense: Fidelity Charitable provided $1 million to Children's Health Defense and some of its state chapters in 2021–2022; The Vanguard Group's foundation gave $1.5 million to the national group and its California chapter between 2020 and 2022; Morgan Stanley's fund $680,000 provided to the national group and its New York chapter in 2020 and 2021. In addition, the National Christian Foundation gave a total of $630,000 to the group in 2020 and 2021. Smaller anonymized donations received during the COVID-19 pandemic included Fairfield County’s Community Foundation ($200,000) and the Chicago Community Trust ($100,000).[57]

The organization receives a portion of the sales of Ty Bollinger's anti-vaccination video series, which it promotes.[58] Despite its messaging impeding the government's efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19, Children's Health Defense received $145,400 in federally backed small business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program from JPMorgan Chase in 2020.[25][59][60] The 2021 tax return for Children's Health Defense indicates that Kennedy was paid above $500,000 for his services as chairman and chief counsel for the organization.[61]

Children's Health Defense initiated a number of court cases, with little success. Requests for contributions to its litigation funds are a major component of its fundraising activities.[52]

Given the impact they had during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, ethicist Arthur Caplan commented that funding Children's Health Defense and similar groups might have grave consequence in future epidemics.[32]

Lawsuits

Children's Health Defense has initiated a number of court cases against governments, agencies, and media companies, all of which are pending or have been dismissed.

On April 19, 2019, the Kings County (New York) Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit in which Robert Krakow, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Patricia Finn of Children's Health Defense represented five parents of unvaccinated children protesting the decision by New York City authorities to impose mandatory measles-mumps-rubella vaccinations for residents in parts of Williamsburg, New York, as a response to the epidemic of measles in that area. The lawsuit was filed four days earlier against the New York City Department of Health and Human Hygiene and its commissioner.[62][63] In his ruling, Judge Lawrence Knipel said that the arguments presented by the plaintiffs amounted to little more than "unsupported, bald faced opinion". Responding to Children's Health Defense's claims that the city's reaction to a "garden-variety annual measles outbreak" was excessive, the judge pointed out that the documents filed as evidence in fact demonstrated otherwise. He concluded that "the unvarnished truth is that these diagnoses represent the most significant spike in incidences of measles in the United States in many years and that the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn is at its epicenter. It has already begun to spread to remote locations."[63][64]

On August 17, 2020, Children's Health Defense sued Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Facebook, and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, claiming that Politifact censored a truthful public health statement about vaccines through its fact checking. The case was dismissed for failure to state an actionable claim on June 30, 2021.[65] Children's Health Defense has appealed.

On August 16, 2021, Children's Health Defense sued Rutgers because of their vaccine mandate. A federal court dismissed the suit on September 23, 2022.[66]

On August 31, 2021, Children's Health Defense sued the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approving the COVID-19 vaccine for children. The federal court dismissed the complaint with prejudice for lack of jurisdiction on January 12, 2023.[67] CHD has appealed.

On January 10, 2023, Children's Health Defense sued Reuters, AP, BBC, and the Washington Post in an antitrust suit, claiming that these groups were working together to keep certain opinions out of the media. As of April 2023, the lawsuit is pending before Judge Kacsmaryk in Texas.[68]

On January 25, 2023,[citation needed] Children's Health Defense sued the FDA under Freedom of Information Act to force release of Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System data.[31] The lawsuit is pending.[citation needed]

On April 12, 2023, Children's Health Defense sued the National Institutes of Health for failing to produce documents related to correspondence between NIH researchers and individuals who contacted the agency regarding adverse events they experienced after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The lawsuit is pending.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Weir, Keziah (May 13, 2021). "How Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Became the Anti-vaxxer Icon of America's Nightmares". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on July 4, 2021. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Sun, Lena H. (November 15, 2019). "Majority of anti-vaccine ads on Facebook were funded by two groups". Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c The Anti-Vaxx Playbook (PDF) (Report). Center for Countering Digital Hate. 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  4. ^ a b Zadrozny, Brandy (December 29, 2019). "Social media hosted a lot of fake health news this year. Here's what went most viral". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 3, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  5. ^ "Profile". Guidestar. Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  6. ^ "Board of Directors". Children's Health Defense. Archived from the original on April 16, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d Smith, Michelle R. (December 15, 2021). "How a Kennedy built an anti-vaccine juggernaut amid COVID-19". Associated Press (AP). Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  8. ^ a b c d e Radford, Benjamin (September 24, 2020). "Covert Anti-Vaccination In 'Children's Health Defense'". Center for Inquiry. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Hotez, Peter (January 3, 2019). "Global disease risk worsening as anti-vaccination campaigns spread". Axios. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Scott, Katie (February 16, 2017). "Robert De Niro, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offer $100K to anyone who can provide proof vaccines are safe". Global TV. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  11. ^ "Communicating science-based messages on vaccines". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 95 (10): 670–71. October 2017. doi:10.2471/BLT.17.021017 (inactive December 5, 2024). PMC 5689193. PMID 29147039.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of December 2024 (link)
  12. ^ "Why do some people oppose vaccination?". Vox. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  13. ^ Ceccarelli L. "Defending science: How the art of rhetoric can help". The Conversation. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  14. ^ U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "Vaccines.gov". Vaccines.gov. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
  15. ^ Malone, Clare (August 5, 2024). "What Does Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Actually Want?". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on August 6, 2024. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Senapathy, Kavin (December 27, 2019). "The Top 10 Woo of 2018 [Part I]". Skeptical Inquirer. CFI. Archived from the original on February 24, 2020.
  17. ^ a b Gammon, Katarine (April 16, 2020). "How the anti-vaccine community is responding to COVID-19". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
  18. ^ "The Children's Health Defense Team: Fluoridation Must End". PRNewswire. January 10, 2019. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  19. ^ "U.S. Water Fluoridation: A Forced Experiment that Needs to End". Children's Health Defense. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on March 3, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
  20. ^ "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - Baum Hedlund Co-Counsel". Baum Hedlund Law. Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  21. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (November 3, 2023). "RFK Jr. comes 'home' to his anti-vaccine group, commits to 'a break' for U.S. infectious disease research". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
  22. ^ Rabin, Roni Caryn (May 8, 2019). "Brother and Sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Accuse Him of Spreading Misinformation on Vaccines". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  23. ^ Golgowski, Nina (May 8, 2019). "Robert Kennedy Jr.'s Vaccine Views Slammed As 'Tragically Wrong' By Family". Huffington POst. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  24. ^ a b Gorski, David (April 30, 2018). "Autism prevalence increases to 1 in 59, and antivaxers lose it…yet again". Science-Based medicine. Archived from the original on February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Gregg, Aaron (January 18, 2021). "The Trump administration bailed out prominent anti-vaccine groups during a pandemic". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  26. ^ Smith, David (February 21, 2018). "Trump appears to abandon vaccine sceptic group denounced by scientists". The Guardian. Archived from the original on March 10, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  27. ^ Branswell, Helen (August 21, 2017). "As White House appoints pro-vaccine officials, plan for safety commission appears stalled". STAT news. Archived from the original on March 10, 2019. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  28. ^ "Thimerosal and Vaccines". U.S. Foods and Drugs Administration. August 21, 2023.
  29. ^ "Timeline: Thimerosal in Vaccines (1999-2010)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 19, 2020.
  30. ^ Kennedy Townsend, Kathleen; Kennedy, Joseph P.; Kennedy McKean, Maeve (May 8, 2019). "RFK Jr. Is Our Brother and Uncle. He's Tragically Wrong About Vaccines". Politico. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  31. ^ a b Piper, Jessica (September 24, 2023). "Anti-vaxxers, flush with cash, now have political power". Politico.
  32. ^ a b c Weber, Lauren (February 21, 2024). "Tax records reveal the lucrative world of covid misinformation". Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 23, 2024. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  33. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (November 13, 2024). "RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine group lost $3 million last year". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 14, 2024. Retrieved November 14, 2024.
  34. ^ Belanger, Ashley (August 18, 2022). "Loathsome anti-vax group run by RFK Jr gets Meta permaban—finally". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 19, 2022.
  35. ^ Robinson, Olga (February 11, 2021). "Instagram bans Robert F Kennedy Jr over Covid vaccine posts". BBC. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  36. ^ Hamilton, Isobel Asher (February 17, 2021). "Facebook has launched another crackdown on anti-vax misinformation. Experts say it doesn't go far enough". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 18, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  37. ^ Frenkel, Sheera (February 11, 2021). "Instagram barred Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s account. Anti-vaccine accounts remain". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  38. ^ Voght, Kara (January 23, 2022). "'I'm a Full Anti-Vaxxer Now': How the Conspiracists Are Winning Over Fresh Converts". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  39. ^ Velasquez-Manoff, Moises (May 25, 2022). "The Anti-Vaccine Movement's New Frontier". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  40. ^ Skolnik, Jon (January 24, 2022). "Proud Boys return to D.C. — this time for massive anti-vaccine rall". Salon. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  41. ^ Callaghan, Timothy; Moghtaderi, Ali; Lueck, Jennifer A.; Hotez, Peter; Strych, Ulrich; Dor, Avi; Franklin Fowler, Erika; Motta, Matthew (January 4, 2021). "Correlates and disparities of intention to vaccinate against COVID-19". Social Science & Medicine. 272: 113638. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113638. PMC 7834845. PMID 33414032.
  42. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy; Adams, Char (March 11, 2021). "Covid's devastation of Black community used as 'marketing' in new anti-vaccine film". NBC News. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  43. ^ Ecarma, Caleb (April 6, 2023). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Presidential Bid Is Doomed to Fail. But That's Not the Point". Vanity Fair. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  44. ^ Lewis, Kaitlin (April 6, 2023). "Anti-Vaxxer RFK Jr. Takes Aim at Joe Biden in More Ways Than One". Newsweek. Archived from the original on May 17, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  45. ^ Jarry, Jonathan (July 7, 2023). "I Watched a Week's Worth of RFK Jr.'s Fear-Inducing "TV Channel"". Office for Science and Society. Retrieved July 8, 2023.
  46. ^ Jamison, A.M.; Broniatowski, D. A.; Dredze, M. (November 13, 2019). "Vaccine-related advertising in the Facebook Ad Archive". Vaccine. 38 (3): 512–520. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.10.066. PMC 6954281. PMID 31732327.
  47. ^ a b Robertson, Adi (August 18, 2020). "Anti-vaccination group sues Facebook over fact-checking program". The Verge. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  48. ^ Cox, Kate (August 18, 2020). "Anti-vaccine group sues Facebook, claims fact-checking is "censorship"". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  49. ^ "Verified complaint Children's Health Defense v. Facebook et al" (PDF). Ars Technica (PDF). August 17, 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 18, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  50. ^ Tomlin, Jimmy (September 17, 2024). "Controversial 'Vaxxed' film shows tonight in High Point". The High Point Enterprise.
  51. ^ Zodrow, Andru (September 20, 2024). "Vaccine conspiracy theory documentary headed to Spokane". KHQ Spokane.
  52. ^ a b Merlan, Anna (February 17, 2023). "Anti-Vaxxers Think It's Time For Political and Legal Revenge". Vice News. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  53. ^ "United States District Court Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division - Children's Health Defense, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trialsite Inc, Creative Destruction Media LLC, Erin Elizabeth Finn, Jim Hoft, Dr. Ben Tapper, Ben Swann, Dr. Joseph Mercola, Ty Bollinger & Charlene Bollinger (Plaintiffs) vs. The Washington Post Co., The British Broadcasting Corp., The Associated Press, & Reuters (Defendants)" (PDF). Children's Health Defense. January 10, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  54. ^ Millhiser, Ian (January 25, 2023). "Trump's worst judge is now a dangerous threat to press freedom". Vox. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  55. ^ Schwartz, Brian (May 18, 2023). "Meet the Wall Street executive funding Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine group". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  56. ^ Zadrozny, Brandy (November 13, 2024). "RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine group lost $3 million last year". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 25, 2024. Retrieved December 1, 2024.
  57. ^ Bragman, Walker; Kotch, Alex (October 19, 2023). "America's Biggest Charities Bankrolled RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vax Outfit". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  58. ^ "Pandemic Profiteers" (PDF). Center for Countering Digital Hate. Center for Countering Digital Hate. June 1, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  59. ^ "FederalPay.org PPP Loan Data — Children's Health Defense Co., Peachtree City, GA". FederalPay.org. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.
  60. ^ Stacy Cowley (January 18, 2021). "Vaccine Critics Received More Than $1 Million in Pandemic Relief Loans". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
  61. ^ "The conspiracy candidate: What RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine crusade could look like in the White House". NBC News. June 19, 2023. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  62. ^ Enman, Scott (April 16, 2019). "Anti-vaxxers sue city over mandatory measles vaccination". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  63. ^ a b Enman, Scott (April 19, 2019). "Measles outbreak: Brooklyn judge dismisses anti-vaxxer lawsuit against the city". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Archived from the original on April 24, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  64. ^ C.F., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children; M.F., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children; B.D., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor children; M.N., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child; and A.L., on her own behalf and on behalf of her minor child (Petitioners) vs. The New York City City Department of Health and Human Hygiene, and Dr. Oxisris Barbot, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the New York City City Department of Health and Human Hygiene (Respondents)., 508356/19 (Supreme Court of the State of New York April 18, 2019).
  65. ^ Washington, District of Columbia 1800 I. Street NW; Dc 20006. "PolitiFact - Federal judge dismisses lawsuit involving PolitiFact". @politifact. Retrieved April 27, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  66. ^ "Rutgers Defeats Challenge to Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccine Policy". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  67. ^ "Federal court dismisses lawsuit over FDA authorization of COVID-19 vaccines for children". www.jurist.org. January 13, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
  68. ^ Porterfield, Carlie. "RFK Jr. Sues BBC And Other Media Outlets Over Covid 'Censorship'". Forbes. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Children%27s_Health_Defense&oldid=1262016289"