reSee.it Video Transcript AI Summary
In August 2014, Bill Thompson admitted that the CDC lied and hid the fact that the MMR vaccine was associated with autism. The conversation with Thompson felt like a spy movie and led to a secret recording of phone conversations with doctor William Thompson, made in Oregon to avoid California’s ban on secret recordings. Thompson freely admitted that he had covered up the association, and that his associates at the CDC had also covered it up.
Simerosal was described as causing autism-like features, and the speaker expressed personal shame, stating that higher-ups wanted to do certain things and that they went along with it. The individuals named as being higher up are Colleen (the center director), Frank (the director of immunization safety), and Marshall (the branch chief), all described as much more senior than the speaker.
Julie Gerberding, who was head of the CDC at the time, is mentioned as coincidentally moving on to a lucrative career at Merck, the manufacturer of the MMR vaccine.
The speaker concludes with a strong emotional reaction, saying, “I cannot believe we did what we did, but we did.”