Actor and anti-vaxxer Rob Schneider: I have proof the CDC 'fraudulently changed' autism data

Actor and anti-vaccine advocate Rob Schneider contacted California Gov. Jerry Brown's office (D) claiming to possess documents showing that the Centers for Disease Control has hidden data showing Black children are at a particularly high risk of developing autism from vaccines.

According to the anti-vaccine site The Canary Party, Schneider stated in his letter to deputy legislative secretary Lark Park that he was "compelled" to share his proof of a CDC report the agency suppressed and "fraudulently changed."

"One disturbing disclosure, AFRICAN AMERICAN CHILDREN were and still are THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY PERCENT more likely to develop Autism under the current Vaccine MMR schedule," Schneider wrote. "This according to the original CDC study in 2001."

Schneider may have been referring to a 2004 letter to the CDC regarding a study of African-American children which was recently unearthed. Anti-vaccination activists say the letter proves that evidence of a link between the MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) vaccine and autism was suppressed by the CDC. The agency said in a statement that the study's results were due to issues with the sample and not a vaccine-autism link.

He also reaffirmed his opposition to AB 2109, an October 2012 law requiring parents looking for non-medical school vaccination exemptions for their children to provide proof that they met with a healthcare provider and discussed the potential drawbacks of their decision.

Four months earlier, when the state Senate Health Committee approved the bill, Schneider mistakenly posted online that it had been passed and called lawmakers "Nazis" for doing so.

"This policy of one size fits all Vaccine schedule for every child is as absurd as giving the same eye prescription glasses to every child," he wrote in his letter to Park. "The fact is EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT and there is currently NO SYSTEM or thought to which child could be more susceptible to adverse reactions including permanent injury and death from any Vaccine or Vaccine ingredients."

A CDC study released earlier this year blamed anti-vaccine activists for fueling an increase in measles outbreaks around the country; 80 percent of the new cases involved people who refused to get the MMR vaccine because of "philosophical differences."

Editor's Note: The story has been corrected to better reflect Schneider's statement.

[Image via Wikipedia Commons]