The New York Times says that Senator John McCain’s statement about there being “‘there’s strong evidence” linking thimerosal for the increase in diagnoses of autism is “good politics”:

…the parent groups raising concerns about the dangers of vaccines have not wavered in their conviction, and if anything have become more skeptical of government pronouncements on the issue over time. Radio hosts, journalists and a new television drama have also taken up the issue. So if his goal was bucking the establishment — and turning a weather eye on the government — Mr. McCain’s remarks made good politics.

Maybe’s McCain’s statement is “good politics,” but it’s still “bad science,” and by an “anti-science sell-out who’s been spending too much time talking to activist moms. Is this the Times trying to compensate for their story about McCain and a certain female lobbyist?

Many in the autism community (as noted here and here), and many scientists (here and here, and here, and also here, for starters), have spoken out about Senator John McCain’s saying that “‘there’s strong evidence” linking thimerosal for the increase in diagnoses of autism in the US—-and political commentators have also been asking, what was the Senator thinking, or not?. (On the other hand, David Kirby writes a letter to McCain commending him for his “courage” and talks about the “Great American Autism Epidemic”—-too much misinformation to unpack right now.)

Here’s CBS’ Kevin Drum on McCain’s junk science:

So what happened here? Why did McCain perpetuate this rubbish without even a smidgen of doubt in his voice? Was he pandering to some constituency or other? Was he just making [s***] up because he didn’t really know anything about the subject? Was he misinformed by own staff about this? Unfortunately, my guess is that the correct answer here is “making [s***] up,” a quality that McCain has shown an unfortunate weakness for in the past. It’s just another indication that when it comes to anything outside of the few pet issues he cares about, McCain really can’t be bothered to take an interest. Not a great quality for the leader of the free world.

Maybe a comment, too, on the sorry state of science education in our country?

Here’s Megan McArdle in today’s Atlantic; also see Matthew Yglesias:

Lots of people are talking about John McCain’s lunatic pronouncement that “there’s strong evidence” for the proposition that thimerosol [sic], a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines, causes autism. This is nonsense on stilts. While it might once have been a viable theory, there is now multi-national evidence that removing thimerosol [sic] from vaccines (as the US did in 2001) causes no decline in the rate of autism. Why, people ask wonderingly, is the good senator wandering around claiming otherwise?

I offer two explanations, neither of them mutually exclusive:

1. The desperate parents who believe that thimerosol caused their child’s autism are highly motivated people with a very good chance of voting for anyone who says he believes them. The researchers who study thimerosal probably weren’t going to vote for McCain anyway. No one else votes on the issue.

2. The vast expansion of the state means that we expect our representatives to have opinions on everything from missile defense to flame-retardant pajamas. No one could possibly learn about every subject we expect them to know, even if he were not spending sixteen hours a day doing the grip-and-grin with voters, lobbyists, donors, and other politicians.

Commenters on McArdle’s post have been weighing in about explanation #2. Though it seems to me that, even though “no one could possibly learn about every subject we expect them to know,” all it takes to figure out what’s the truth about the vaccine-autism link (there isn’t one) is to read around a little and see how much evidence there is refuting it. And then, exercising some of one’s own good judgment.

For more: Outside the Beltway wonders if McCain—who has been a frequent guest on Don Imus’ radio show—-has listened too long to Imus “hammering home the mercury-autism link on his program.” Also, Overlawyered, The Carpetbagger Report, the Angry Bear.

So it seems that Senator John McCain has made his entrance into autism politics: At a town meeting in Texas today, McCain said that “‘there’s strong evidence’” that thimerosal, the mercury-based preservative, is responsible for the rising numbers of autistic children in the US. Writes Jake Tapper on Political Punch on ABC News:

McCain was responding to a question from the mother of a boy with autism, who asked about a recent story that the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program had issued a judgment in favor of an unnamed child whose family claimed regressive encephalopathy and symptoms of autism were caused by thimerosal. [Note: The government's concession in this case does not specify thimerosal as "causing" the child's condition; see below.]

“We’ve been waiting for years for kind of a responsible answer to this question, and are hoping that you can help us out there,” the woman said.

McCain said, per ABC News’ Bret Hovell, that “It’s indisputable that (autism) is on the rise amongst children, the question is what’s causing it. And we go back and forth and there’s strong evidence that indicates that it’s got to do with a preservative in vaccines.”

McCain said there’s “divided scientific opinion” on the matter, with “many on the other side that are credible scientists that are saying that’s not the cause of it.”

Tapper then points out that there is no valid scientific evidence linking autism to vaccines or to anything in vaccines and cites the recent study finding a rise in autism diagnoses even after thimerosal was removed from vaccines, as well as referencing the CDC, the AAP, the Institute of Medicine, and others who regularly incur the wrath of organizations who insist that there is a link between vaccines and autism.

Regarding the statement by the mother whose question McCain was responding to: The government’s concession in one of the vaccine injury cases in the Autism Omnibus is a legal, not a scientific judgment, as Orac reminds, and it does not specify thimerosal as causing the child to become autistic. This is the government’s analysis:

In sum, DVIC has concluded that the facts of this case meet the statutory criteria for demonstrating that the vaccinations CHILD received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder, which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of autism spectrum disorder.Therefore, respondent recommends that compensation be awarded to petitioners in accordance with 42 U.S.C. § 300aa-11(c)(1)(C)(ii).

DVIC has concluded that CHILD’s complex partial seizure disorder, with an onset of almost six years after her July 19, 2000 vaccinations, is not related to a vaccine-injury.

Let’s hope that Sen. McCain and whoever advises him about scientific issues are fully up to date on their research, and that they read carefully. As anyone who’s gotten into a discussion/exchange/debate/mudslinging fest about vaccines and/or mercury and autism know, there’s a lot of opinions, a lot of dubious science, and a lot of scientific evidence about this topic—-evidence, that is, that there is no link between vaccines or something in vaccines and autism.