CDC website changed to reflect RFK Jr’s belief in the connection between vaccines and autism | Trump administration
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website has been changed to reflect the belief of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US Secretary of Health and Human Services, that there is a link between vaccines and autism, an opinion that flatly contradicts experts and scientifically proven studies.
Public health and autism professionals strongly condemned the change to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Vaccine Safety” web page, after it was changed to read: “The statement ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim.”
She pointedly added: “Health authorities have ignored studies supporting a link.”
The extent of the change is further emphasized by an asterisk affixed to a pre-existing phrase underneath, which reads “Vaccines do not cause autism.”
A clarification at the bottom of the page said the statement had not been removed “due to agreement with the Chairman of the US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee that it remain on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.”
This explanation was in reference to Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician, who initially opposed Kennedy’s nomination for health secretary but later voted to confirm his nomination on the grounds that statements about how vaccines do not cause autism would remain on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.
The new page did not cite any new research. He simply stated: “HHS [health and human services] It has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism, including investigations into plausible biological mechanisms and potential causal links.
The changes appear to be the latest example of Kennedy’s determination to impose his beliefs on the sprawling Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the Centers for Disease Control. It also sparked intense backlash from scientists and advocates, with former and current CDC employees saying the updated page did not go through the normal scientific approval process.
“I spoke with several scientists at the CDC yesterday and none of them were aware of this change in content,” Debra Houry, one of a group of senior CDC officials who resigned in August, told the AP.
“When scientists are excluded from scientific reviews, it leads to inaccurate and ideological information outcomes.”
The move was also condemned by the Autism Science Foundation, an organization that initially cautiously welcomed Kennedy’s stated mission to investigate the causes of autism — a disorder that can manifest in speech difficulties and repetitive behavior — after his confirmation.
“We were dismayed to find that the content on the CDC’s ‘Autism and Vaccines’ webpage has been altered and distorted, and is now filled with anti-vaccine rhetoric and outright lies about vaccines and autism,” the foundation said in a statement.
A Previous version The page stated, “Studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). No links have been found between any of the vaccine components and autism spectrum disorder.”
Broad scientific consensus and decades of studies have conclusively concluded that there is no link between vaccines and autism.
“The conclusion is clear and unequivocal,” Dr. Susan Chrisley, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement Thursday.
“We call on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop wasting government resources amplifying false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations.”
The CDC has echoed that, so far, there has been no connection to promoting FDA-licensed vaccines. A number of former officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that what the CDC publishes on certain topics — including vaccine safety — can no longer be trusted.
Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who also resigned from the agency in August, told reporters that Kennedy appeared to be “moving from evidence-based decision making to decision-based evidence making.”
Besides postulating a link between vaccines and autism, Kennedy supported the belief that the condition might be caused by pregnant women taking Tylenol, a suspicion that was forcefully pushed by Donald Trump, who urged expectant mothers to avoid taking the over-the-counter drug.