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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) whistleblower featured in the film “Vaxxed” is being temporarily promoted to a new role at the agency, according to an investigation by STAT.
CDC Senior Scientist William Thompson will oversee research into “adverse childhood experiences,” which the CDC defines as “potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood.” Those events include violence, abuse, neglect, witnessing violence in the home or losing a family member to suicide.
Citing documents reviewed by STAT and “an agency employee familiar with the matter,” the publication reported:
“Thompson, who recently advised [U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] on vaccine policy and has previously suggested the CDC omitted data on vaccine risks, will be temporarily promoted to the highest level of civilian government workers, a GS-15 with supervisory duties.”
GS-15 is the highest grade in the General Schedule (GS) pay scale for federal employees.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC did not immediately respond to The Defender’s request for confirmation and more details.
Children’s Health Defense (CHD) CEO Mary Holland said she was pleased at Thompson’s promotion and that she believes he is “able to assist in bringing positive change to the CDC.”
Thompson — who remained at the CDC after he “spoke out against the institution’s corruption related to childhood vaccines” — is now in a “unique position to help the new CDC administration understand where the institution is succeeding and failing and where corruption is still entrenched,” Holland said.
On Aug. 27, 2014, Thompson issued a statement through his attorney revealing that he and his colleagues at the CDC omitted data from a 2004 article in Pediatrics that “suggested that African American males who received the MMR [measles-mumps-rubella] vaccine before age 36 months were at increased risk for autism.”
As documented in “Vaxxed,” Thompson spoke about the omitted data on phone calls recorded in 2014 with Brian Hooker, Ph.D., whose son was diagnosed with autism after receiving the MMR vaccine and who now serves as CHD’s chief scientific officer.
“I see Thompson’s promotion as an encouraging sign,” Hooker told The Defender, “especially given his very brave actions and commitment to data transparency in 2014, when he exposed the CDC’s fraud around the connection between the MMR vaccine and autism.”
Thompson to help CDC efforts align with MAHA agenda
In his new role, Thompson will seek to align the CDC’s research on adverse childhood experiences with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement agenda, according to documents reviewed by STAT.
In September, the MAHA Commission released its “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy report. The report detailed 128 recommendations to President Donald Trump on steps the federal government can take to address the childhood chronic disease epidemic.
Recommendations included conducting studies on vaccine injuries and the root causes of autism, and restructuring the federal government’s response to the childhood chronic disease crisis.
The CDC is leading an initiative to prevent adverse childhood experiences. Its website states, “Our goal is to create the conditions for strong, thriving families and communities where children and youth are free from harm.”
Adverse childhood experiences can create toxic stress for kids, which can negatively affect their brain development and immune system.
Hooker said he thought Thompson would be a good fit for overseeing CDC’s work in this area. “I believe he cares deeply about ending the epidemic of chronic disease in children,” Hooker said.
Thompson is now likely to help shape elements of the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, the largest U.S. public health surveillance system that monitors multiple health-related behaviors among high school students.
He will also direct students and fellows in their research.
Thompson has held various roles within the CDC since joining the agency in 1998, MedPage Today reported.
In 2004, he worked with the CDC’s epidemiology and surveillance division for its National Immunization Program. In 2009, he served in the Influenza Division of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. He later worked on adult and community health issues within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
Since 2016, Thompson has worked in the Division of Viral Hepatitis, according to his LinkedIn page.
Related articles in The Defender
- MAHA Commission Outlines Sweeping Agenda to Target Chronic Disease
- It’s Been 10 Years Since a Whistleblower Exposed the CDC’s Cover-up of the Link Between Vaccines and Autism. The Agency Has Done Nothing.
- ‘Between a Shot and a Hard Place’: Autism, Vaccines and the Illusion of Certainty
- Kids, Vaccines and Autism: Will a New Legal Strategy End the Decades-long Battle for Truth and Justice?
