The Cleveland Clinic said Sunday that one of its doctors will face disciplinary action after he wrote an op-ed slamming the number of vaccines people receive and questioning whether it's to blame for autism.
"What I will stand up and scream is that newborns without intact immune systems and detoxification systems are being over-burdened with PRESERVATIVES AND ADJUVANTS IN THE VACCINES," wrote Dr. Daniel Neides in a Cleveland.com blog published Friday.
Neides, the medical director and chief operating officer of the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, has been a contributing blogger on wellness-related topics for Cleveland.com for the past two years.
Cleveland.com took down his latest article, titled "Make 2017 the year to avoid toxins (good luck) and master your domain: Words on Wellness," Sunday at the request of the clinic.
In the article, Neides ranted about toxins, criticizing the preservatives in flu shots, the timing of vaccines and the kinds of vaccines that newborns receive.
"For those who want to dive in further, help me understand why we vaccinate newborns for hepatitis B - a sexually transmitted disease," Neides wrote. "Any exposure to this virus is unlikely to happen before our second decade of life, but we expose our precious newborns to toxic aluminum (an adjuvant in the vaccine) at one day of life."
He also questioned whether the so-called vaccine burden causes autism and challenged his readers to "detoxify."
His message caused a social media firestorm within the medical community.
The clinic issued the following statement Sunday:
“Cleveland Clinic is fully committed to evidence-based medicine. Harmful myths and untruths about vaccinations have been scientifically debunked in rigorous ways. We completely support vaccinations to protect people, especially children who are particularly vulnerable. Our physician published his statement without authorization from Cleveland Clinic. His views do not reflect the position of Cleveland Clinic and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.”
Neides released his own statement Sunday:
"I apologize and regret publishing a blog that has caused so much concern and confusion for the public and medical community. I fully support vaccinations and my concern was meant to be positive around the safety of them."
Two years ago, Neides wrote a blog on Cleveland.com praising the flu vaccine.
The Cleveland Clinic said it will not release details regarding Neides' disciplinary action.
