RFK Jr. says he ordered CDC website change regarding vaccines and autism
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he was personally responsible for changes made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website addressing vaccines and autism. The website now says the scientific conclusion that vaccines don’t cause autism is not “evidence-based.”
In an interview with The New York Times, Kennedy acknowledged that large-scale studies found no link between vaccines for the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism. He also granted that researchers have found no link between mercury-based vaccine preservatives and the neurological disorder.
However, Kennedy said there were gaps in vaccine safety science. He said he ordered the website change because researchers have not conducted large, high-quality studies on the possible link between autism and other vaccines children receive in the first year of their lives.
Experts cited by The Times said Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, is using cherry-picked facts and seeking studies to confirm his own predetermined conclusions. They say childhood vaccines are not only safe, they save countless lives.
Still, in Kennedy’s view, statements like “vaccines don’t cause autism” are unproven and are only intended to ease parents’ fear. He said he isn’t saying vaccines do cause autism, only that there’s no proof that they don’t.
“The whole thing about ‘vaccines have been tested and there’s been this determination made,’ is just a lie,” Kennedy said.
According to The Times, it’s unusual for the health secretary to personally order a change in scientific standards. Former CDC officials told the publication that agency scientists typically make these kinds of changes. They said in some cases, the cases may appear on the secretary’s desk for review.
In recent interviews with Straight Arrow News, seven former federal health officials who have left their jobs this year expressed grave concerns about Kennedy’s impact on public health. They said he relies on unsound scientific theories, disregards expert findings and dispenses poorly conceived and even dangerous medical advice as he focuses more on chronic illnesses than on the potential for widespread outbreaks like another pandemic.
What do scientists say?
Experts say in a narrow sense, Kennedy is correct that certain studies haven’t been done yet. However, they also say he’s asking for a level of proof that is near-impossible to achieve.
“You can’t prove that Coca-Cola doesn’t cause autism, either,” Arthur Caplan, the medical ethics director at New York University, has said, according to The Times.
Most experts say researchers have answered the question of whether vaccines cause autism. According to The Times, Kennedy’s critics say he is using his position to discourage vaccinations, a stance that has earned him millions of dollars and boosted his political career.
“There is overwhelming evidence that vaccines do not cause autism but do save lives,” Dr. Mandy Cohen, a former CDC director, told The Times.
Kennedy’s changes have also put him at odds with some in Congress.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., chairman of the Senate Health Committee, voted to confirm Kennedy as HHS secretary only after Kennedy promised he wouldn’t remove a statement from the CDC that says vaccines do not cause autism.
Kennedy did not order the statement removed. But it now appears beside an asterisk that leads to a footnote saying the statement remains on the site because of an agreement with Cassidy.
The page goes on to claim the statement is not “evidence-based” and that health authorities have ignored studies supporting the link.
“I’m a doctor who has seen people die from vaccine-preventable diseases,” Cassidy wrote Thursday on X. “What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism. Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker.”
The post RFK Jr. says he ordered CDC website change regarding vaccines and autism appeared first on Straight Arrow News.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
