Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally ordered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to alter language on a webpage that said vaccines do not cause autism, he told The New York Times in an interview Thursday.
The updated CDC website now says that the statement “vaccines do not cause autism,” is “not an evidence-based claim,” a position at odds with years of scientific consensus and researchers who have investigated this issue at length. It also now says that government health authorities have ignored the link between vaccines and autism.
The secretary revealed his role in the new language during an interview with the Times. He also said that he had talked with Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) about the change, and that Cassidy “disagreed with the decision.” Cassidy took to social media to say that vaccines don’t cause autism, but did not call out Kennedy by name or reference his specific actions.
The senator cast the decisive vote to confirm Kennedy as health secretary in February after securing a promise that Kennedy would remain committed to maintaining the CDC’s position that vaccines do not cause autism. When asked Thursday during a Punchbowl News interview whether he regrets his vote for Kennedy, Cassidy dodged the question, saying instead“Life is lived forward.”
Kennedy is a longtime vaccine skeptic who has spent decades sowing doubt about vaccines. His actions are the latest sign that he is inching the federal government’s official policies and communications closer to his long-held beliefs — and that he is not afraid to break political promises to ensure his vision is enacted.
Despite the updates to the CDC webpage, the facts are clear: vaccines don’t cause autism. Many studies have investigated a possible link with the preservative thimerosal or the adjuvant aluminum. None have found compelling evidence of a link.
Childhood immunizations have saved countless lives since their introduction. One study calculated that these vaccines have saved 154 million lives since 1974, a figure that exceeds the entire population of Mexico.
