The US Department of Health and Human Services has launched a “massive testing and research effort” involving hundreds of scientists worldwide to determine “what has caused the autism epidemic” by September, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Thursday.
However, experts expressed doubt that the research would be conducted in good faith, citing Kennedy’s history of linking autism and vaccines despite strong evidence that the two are unrelated.
“We’ve launched a massive testing and research effort that will include hundreds of scientists from around the world,” he told President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting. “By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.”
The president responded that “there will be no bigger news conference than that,” implying that “there must be something artificial out there that is doing this.”
Autism rates in the United States have been rising, with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that one in every 36 children will be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder by 2020.
Kennedy suggested on Thursday that newer numbers may show “they’re going up again,” to about one in 31. In 2000, the rate was one in 150.
Autism researchers believe that rates are rising for a variety of reasons, including increased awareness, broader definitions of autism, improved screening tools and processes, and earlier detection.
The exact cause is unknown, but genetics, advanced parental age, prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides, and other environmental factors are thought to play a role.
What doesn’t: vaccines.
“No link has been found between autism and vaccines, including those containing thimerosal, a mercury-based compound,” according to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, which is part of the National Institutes of Health.
However, Trump appeared to imply where Kennedy’s “massive testing and research effort” might lead.
“If you can come up with that answer, where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it’s a shot,” he explained to Kennedy on Thursday. “But something’s causing it.”
Kennedy’s history of anti-vaccine advocacy is well-documented, and despite pre-confirmation promises to Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Republican doctor who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee, that he would not dismantle the US system for approving and monitoring vaccine safety, Kennedy’s actions as the nation’s top public health official have done little to indicate a shift in views.
Kennedy directed the CDC to investigate vaccines and autism last month, despite the agency’s own research indicating no link.
Under his watch, Dr. Peter Marks, the top vaccine regulator at the US Food and Drug Administration, was forced out, stating in his resignation letter that Kennedy “wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.” And the department has hired David Geier as a senior data analyst, a self-proclaimed autism expert who co-authored a now-retracted paper with his father, Mark Geier, that claimed there were links between vaccines and autism.
Kennedy has also downplayed a rapidly spreading measles outbreak centered in West Texas, which has killed two unvaccinated children.
When asked Thursday on Fox News about the child who died of measles last week, Kennedy claimed that “she had a lot of complications that could have killed her,” despite the fact that the Texas health department has stated that neither child had any previously reported underlying conditions.
Kennedy continued: “We need to do better at treating kids who have this disease and not just saying the only answer is vaccination.”
Although Kennedy this week gave his strongest endorsement yet of the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, telling CBS News, “We encourage people to get the measles vaccine,” he has also praised doctors in Texas who are providing treatment such as budesonide, a steroid commonly used for asthma, and the antibiotic clarithromycin.
Dr. Adam Ratner, a pediatric infectious disease specialist in New York City who wrote a book about measles and responded to the city’s major 2019 outbreak, told CNN this week that these treatments are not for measles.
Vaccination is what stops a measles outbreak, and it is also what prevents the outbreak from happening in the first place.”
At Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, Kennedy claimed that measles cases in the United States “have now plateaued,” despite the fact that they have increased by 19% to 36% per week in Texas over the last month, with new outbreaks emerging in Indiana and Ohio.
And he said, “We’re trying to refocus the press” on the “chronic disease epidemic,” beginning with children with diabetes and progressing to autism.
Kennedy doubled down on Fox News, claiming that previous vaccine safety studies were inadequate.
“We’re going to look at facts,” he said. “We are going to look into everything. Everything is on the table: our food system, our water, our air, various parenting styles, and any other changes that could have caused this epidemic.”
HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement Thursday that the NIH is actively investigating the root causes of autism, as directed by the Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again. With autism rates rising at an alarming rate, determining its cause is a national priority.
Millions of American families are desperate for answers, and the National Institutes of Health is fully committed to addressing this catastrophic epidemic using only gold-standard, evidence-based science.”
Advocates for the autism community were skeptical of the announcement made on Thursday.
The Autism Society of America described Kennedy’s claim as “both unrealistic and misleading.”
“Leading disability organizations, the scientific community, and credible medical experts all agree: we need more rigorous, science-based research – not speculation, less transparency, or oversimplified timelines,” a statement issued by the society read.
“We are deeply concerned by the lack of transparency around this effort – who is leading it, what methods are being used, and whether it will meet established scientific standards.”
The health secretary’s statement about eliminating “exposures” that cause autism “really is giving the game away,” according to Zoe Gross, director of advocacy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
“They don’t go in with an open mind, thinking, ‘Oh, I wonder what causes autism.'” They’re saying, ‘We’re going to prove that it’s caused by a specific thing.’ “
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network previously opposed Kennedy’s nomination to lead HHS and the agency’s hiring of Geier.
In 2011, the Maryland Board of Physicians disciplined Geier for practicing medicine without a license. That same year, Maryland regulators revoked his father’s medical license, alleging that he “endangers autistic children and exploits their parents.” At least six other states have followed suit.
Geier did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
On Thursday, House Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee launched an investigation into Geier’s role in the HHS autism study.
Meanwhile, health researchers say Kennedy’s September deadline – five months from now – demonstrates the endeavor’s lack of seriousness.
“Even developing a research program would take longer than five months,” said Dr. Lisa Settles, director of Tulane’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders, who has over 20 years of experience in autism research.
“So, how do you plan to develop this program, collect data, and analyze it in five months? That’s not feasible. I don’t believe the research proposed at this time would be free of bias.”
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, is a vaccine researcher who wrote a book about his daughter titled “Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism.”
He emphasized that the causes of autism have been “well-studied by the NIH and their grantees to the various academic health centers, and we have a lot of information.” So I’m not sure what new information [Kennedy] will obtain by September.”
More likely, according to Hotez, the answer is predetermined and incorrect.
“He’s already got his predetermined framework for what he says causes autism when it’s actually none of those things, because autism begins in early fetal brain development before kids ever even see vaccines,” he told me.
HHS recently reduced its staff by 25% in a dramatic restructuring that eliminated entire departments, prompting some public health experts to question how the administration could truly lead a large-scale global study while reducing federal costs and staff.
“I’m not sure how you’re going to do it if they’re cutting the entire NIH budget. “Where is the money coming from?” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, stated on Wednesday that Kennedy should resign or be fired. “And how you coordinate a worldwide study when you’ve walked away from [the World Health Organization] and you’ve alienated all the researchers around the world?”
