The Center for Disease Control (CDC) is questioning decades of research determining that vaccines do not play a role in autism and is instead launching a large-scale study on the alleged connection, Reuters reported.
The U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long claimed that vaccines cause autism, a theory popularized by a discredited doctor and later retracted by The Lancet.
Although it is unclear if Kennedy is leading the study, Trump addressed Congress this week and said the administration is looking into the rise of autism in children and “there’s nobody better than Bobby.”
Kennedy has some authority over the CDC and has frequently maintained his stance on the supposed connection. Although he has denied being anti-vaccine, he has often repeated debunked theories on vaccines and claimed that the U.S. lacked vaccine safety monitoring.
He has also expressed hesitation about the effectiveness of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. His doubts have spread at a time when the United States is facing its largest measles outbreak in the past decade.
Measles vaccines can effectively prevent the disease, which can cause fever, pneumonia, and even death. More and more cases are popping up in Texas and New Mexico because families are refusing to vaccinate their children.
Kennedy dismissed the news that a child died in Texas of measles and called the outbreak typical. He has continuously told parents that vaccines are a personal choice.
While Kennedy has denied on several occasions that he is anti-vaccination, his beliefs have been called into question by other U.S. government representatives and doctors across the country. Even Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy urged him to admit there was no connection between vaccines and autism—to no avail.
Kennedy has also ignored the scientific consensus that COVID vaccines saved American lives.
Autism diagnoses have indeed increased since the early 2000s. Most researchers agree this is due to more accessible, widespread screening and doctors broadening the diagnosis criteria after learning about new common behaviors. Peer-reviewed and expert-led studies over the past several decades have reached the same conclusion: vaccines do not cause autism. However, the official cause is still unclear.
Still, Trump told Congress that “not long ago, and you can’t even believe these numbers, one in 10,000 children have autism. One in 10,000. And now it’s one in 36. There’s something wrong.”
It is correct that one in 36 children is diagnosed with autism. But it stood at one in 150 over two and half decades ago—not one in 10,000.
Several negative stereotypes about autism have left parents afraid of the disorder. But people with autism have long sought to dispel stigmas and remind the world that autism does not make them lesser.
A spokesperson from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told The Daily Beast that the “CDC will leave no stone unturned in its mission to figure out exactly what is happening.” He cited Trump’s comments that autism rates in children were “skyrocketing” and added that the public can expect “high-quality research and transparency” as the CDC conducts the study.
The Daily Beast also reached out to Kennedy for comment.
