Dem: Anti-vax politicians ‘putting us all at risk’

Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) on Wednesday took a veiled swipe at Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as he implored lawmakers to urge vaccinations.

Foster, a former physicist, said lawmakers who suggest that vaccines can result in autism are promoting debunked findings.

{mosads}”This is a dangerous game and one that some elected officials are encouraging. As leaders, it is our duty to inform the public of the truth. For those of us with scientific and medical backgrounds, this duty falls even more seriously,” Foster said on the House floor.

Paul, a potential 2016 White House contender and former ophthalmologist, appeared to suggest in a CNBC interview this week that some children have developed autism after being vaccinated. But he later walked back those comments.

“When politicians give voice to misinformation and paranoia, they’re putting us all at risk,” Foster said. “Measles may not spread as fast as erroneous sound bites and tweets, but they both have the potential to cause a great amount of damage.”

Foster warned that the trend of parents deciding not to vaccinate their children against infectious diseases like measles is erasing years of effort to eradicate its spread.

“All of that progress is quickly coming undone. Not by an act of nature but by willful ignorance,” Foster said.