Why Salon's Autism Retraction Matters

On Sunday, Salon retracted a 2005 article by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., that alleged that thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in vaccines, was fueling an autism epidemic.

Salon’s decision comes on the heels of an investigation by the British Medical Journal that argued the research paper that first connected thimerosal and autism was a work of fraud, fueled by a desire to sue vaccine manufacturers. A year ago, that paper was retracted by The Lancet, which originally published it, and its author, Andrew Wakefield, was stripped of his medical license in Britain. Retraction Watch, a marvelous blog that watches these things, concludes that the Salon article, which was published in print by Rolling Stone, is a relatively small part of this picture.

But I think Salon’s statement in loudly pulling the story – which was already adorned with five corrections that the Salon editors say deeply damaged its credibility – is very important. And I think the story itself, which is still available in its original form on Kennedy’s website, is an object lesson in why it is that ideas like a connection between autism and vaccine preservati