In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.
A number of posts discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion.
Another leading anti-vaxxer is presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Rolling Stone and Salon retracted an RFK article linking vaccines to autism. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the unusual step of publicly contradicting one of his own agencies' autism studies on Tuesday, suggesting at a press conference that "environmental factors" including drugs, not improved screening, were causing a spike in confirmed cases.
Why it matters: Kennedy's assertion that researchers and the media are engaging in what he called "epidemic denial" around the condition could further stoke vaccine skepticism and broader public trust in science, experts say.Patient advocates also contend categorizing the condition as a disease could steer attention and funding away from efforts to accommodate people with autism.
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Catch up quick: Kennedy abruptly called his first Washington press conference after the Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday released a study which found one in 31 U.S. children are diagnosed with autism by their eighth birthday.The figure was 1 in 54 in 2016, per the agency.
The study cited an uptick "might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices."
Differences in insurance coverage were also cited as a possible contributor.
Wednesday's packed event at HHS headquarters was tightly controlled, with only a handful of news outlets being offered the chance to ask questions.
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Zoom in: Kennedy has tapped David Geier, who has a history of promoting the discredited vaccine-autism link to lead what he termed a global effort to identify the cause of autism. He said it would be concluded by September. Over the weekend, the FDA's former top vaccine official Peter Marks warned the preconceptions and unrealistic timeline of this research would likely lead to flawed conclusions.S
