I'm a polio survivor. Kennedy's vaccine stance means he can't be in charge of health. | Opinion

I am one of only two members of Congress who are polio survivors.

In 1954, my father was a pediatrician in Memphis, Tennessee. As part of the worldwide effort to stop polio, he was given a limited number of Salk vaccines to give to second graders.

My brother was in second grade and so received one of the doses that spring. I was in kindergarten, and medical protocol for the new vaccine limited the vaccine to children in second grade.

Unvaccinated, I contracted polio in September of 1954. Fortunately, I was among the lucky ones who survived ? but I was hospitalized for three months, treated with hot packs and spent over a year on crutches. I also endured years of physical therapy.

I now suffer the effects of post-polio syndrome, which requires me to wear a brace for walking and standing. Many others were much more severely affected.

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For more than 60 years, the world has been near polio-free thanks to the Salk and subsequent polio vaccines. Most people don’t give a second thought to polio, as they have been the beneficiaries of the vaccine.

In January 1954, Robert Kennedy Jr., now the president-elect’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was born into a world blessed with a polio vaccine. He and his contemporaries were among the very fortunate to be spared the scourge of polio.

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Robert Kennedy, who has earned a reputation as the leading voice against vaccinations of all kinds, is being advised in choosing health care officials by his attorney, Aaron Siri.

Siri specializes in anti-vaccine lawsuits of all sorts and has petitioned the U.S. government to revoke the approval of the polio vaccine. Kennedy himself has spoken about having a placebo study for the polio vaccine despite 70 years of efficacy and having almost wiped out polio altogether.

That is thanks to the polio vaccine and the alliance of Bill Gates with the Rotary Foundation, an alliance that has worked to ensure the vaccine is available around the world.

A placebo means that there will be children who will receive no vaccine and who may contract polio without even knowing they didn’t receive the vaccine.

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If Robert Kennedy Jr. is successful in rolling back the polio vaccine’s approval, potentially millions will suffer and many will die.

The idea of taking a proven medical protocol and using our nation’s children as human guinea pigs is unconscionable. The only other member of Congress who is a polio survivor, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., stated that “efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed ? they’re dangerous.”

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Leaving children unvaccinated for polio will also be an expensive and unnecessary experiment that, in addition to the human costs, will cost the taxpayer. The medical care for those who contract polio will be great, and many who survive will need lifelong care.

Kennedy should not be in charge of the health of our nation. I do not say that easily as I have known him for many years and we have had a good relationship. But I have been the child who did not receive the vaccine, and polio has been a constant part of my life.

It is an affront to me that we would even consider permitting anyone to endanger the lives of our citizens, particularly our children, whose health all public officials should always protect.

We must respect established scientific facts. We must follow rigorous scientific study and study the facts as they become available, but we do not need to turn back established medical protocols on the whim of those who have no medical training.

There is no doubt about the safety and efficacy of the polio vaccine in preventing polio. None.

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, represents Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. This column originally published in the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: I survived polio. RFK Jr.'s vaccine stance risks our health | Opinion