San Antonio District Attorney Stirs Controversy With Autism-Vaccination Link Comments [VIDEO]

SAN ANTONIO, TX -- The already-controversial district attorney for San Antonio became a more polarizing figure over the weekend, asserting that childhood vaccinations lead to autism -- a theory advanced by a since-debunked study to which many parents still adhere.

Bexar County District Attorney Nicholas "Nico" LaHood on Sunday linked vaccines to autism at a local movie theater, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Elected to the DA's post in 2014, LaHood also was videotaped at his county office desk delivering a statement on the autism-vaccination theory.

“I’m Nico LaHood,” he says on the video, in a serious tone. “I’m the criminal district attorney in San Antonio, Texas. I’m here to tell you that vaccines can and do cause autism.” Dramatic music follows his statement before a teaser appears on screen reading that “Niko’s [sic] Story” is coming on Tuesday, followed by a promotional plug for the Vaxxed documentary that advances the discredited theory.

The “Autism Media Channel” posted the video to Facebook on Friday, the newspaper reported.

The anti-vaccination movement is sizable, often fostered by high-profile celebrities promoting the idea that vaccinations cause autism and other maladies. The movement began in earnest after the 1998 release of a study published in the prestigious English medical journal Lancet that claimed a link between the MMR (mumps-measles-rubella) vaccine and autism.

That study was later debunked when its questionable methodology was exposed, and the researcher conducting it, Andrew Wakefield, was publicly discredited. Yet, the core idea of the researcher's questionable assertions persist to this day.

LaHood's assertions come in the wake of a recent study illustrating the high number of so-called "vaccine exemptions" at Texas schools, children whose parents opt out of having them vaccinated. The study indicated that Austin schools lead the state in terms of the high number of non-vaccinated schoolchildren.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has added its own voice to the debate, asserting the dearth of evidence that would suggest vaccinations cause autism.

Many already have taken LaHood to task for his comments, including Fiona O’Leary, a mother of autistic children, who posted her reaction on Facebook.

“I’m really, really outraged by this comment actually because we’re used to hearing the quacks and the discredited doctors terrifying parents,” O’Leary writes. “But now, we have a professional, a criminal district attorney, making these statements. This man was in his office when he made this statement, presenting under his professional title as a criminal district attorney.”

O'Leary called for the DA to issue an apology to parents of autistic children: “It’s a reckless statement, and I think he should issue a public apology,” she said.

LaHood did not immediately return calls for additional comment from the San Antonio Express-News.

LaHood, 43, was already a controversial figure in San Antonio before his comments on vaccine-caused autism were made public. He first ran unsuccessfully -- and precociously, given his youth -- against longtime DA Susan Reed in 2010, when a criminal record from his younger days came to light: A 1999 arrest for selling 200 pills of the illegal Ecstasy drug.

The ensuing revelation -- outlined in court records that LaHood long sought to have sealed from public scrutiny -- contributed to his defeat. But by 2014, wben he ran again, he pulled out a win that effectively ended Reed's 16-year stint as the county's top prosecutor.

Read the full story at San Antonio Express-News >>

>>> Official photo via official Bexar County website.