In less than a year, the secretary of health and human services has undermined years of established science and made our society less safe.
Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s latest dangerous act was to revise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that had reflected the medically established fact that there is no link between vaccines and autism.
Now it states, erroneously: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” And added, “Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”
Kennedy admitted he ordered the change, despite promising senators during his confirmation hearing that he would not change the CDC’s position on the matter. Earlier, he fired the entire CDC vaccine advisory committee he inherited and replaced members with vaccine skeptics.
In doing so, he puts the health of Americans at risk and undermines the CDC as an established authority on promoting the best and most effective science-based solutions for health.
Just briefly, here’s what highly regarded medical institutions say about the issue:
● The Mayo Clinic: “Vaccines do not cause autism.”
● The Journal of the American Medical Association: “Receipt of the MMR vaccine was not associated with risk of ASD, regardless of whether older siblings had ASD. These findings indicate no harmful association between MMR vaccine receipt and ASD….”
● The Cleveland Clinic: “Researchers have worked tirelessly to determine if there’s a connection. And have proved time and again that there isn’t.”
During his confirmation process, three Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine, who was a main sponsor of the Autism CARES Act of 2024; Bill Cassidy of Louisiana; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — expressed apprehension over his appointment. Yet, all three joined the rest of the Republican senators in confirming Kennedy. None has publicly denounced his latest actions.
Parents should rely on scientists and the knowledge of their family doctor when it comes to childhood vaccines.
The CDC was created 79 years ago to help fight the spread of malaria. It has helped guide the country through health crises such as HIV/AIDS, COVID and even smallpox and Ebola in Africa. There are still highly qualified medical researchers at the CDC whose expertise is being overshadowed by a political agenda that could prove deadly.
For that reason, those senators who confirmed Kennedy should now push him to explain his duplicity during his hearing and for his resignation. Hopefully, the CDC will one day reclaim the scientific integrity and public trust it once had.
