Aug. 26 (UPI) — U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Tuesday he plans to release in September research that he says will identify “certain interventions” that are “certainly causing autism.”
Kennedy made the remarks during a Cabinet meeting in response to questions by President Donald Trump regarding progress on research into the causes of autism first announced in April. The research has been touted as a groundbreaking use of federal data looking into the causes of the neuro-developmental disorder. It is part of Kennedy’s plans to remake health care, which have drawn criticism from experts.
“The autism is such a tremendous horror show,” said Trump. “What’s happening in our country and some other countries, but mostly our country.”
One in 31 children were diagnosed with autism by age 8 in 2022, according to a study released in April by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s an increase from the one in 36 recorded in 2020 and one in 150 in 2000.
After the release of the CDC study, Kennedy announced research into the root causes of autism that would use federal, as well as private, health data. The research would include medical records, claims data and even information from consumer wearable devices to determine what medical and behavioral treatments were behind the rise in autism diagnoses.
Multiple scientific studies debunking the link between vaccines and autism. But Kennedy has remained a skeptic about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and has signaled he would use his new position to re-examine that conclusion.
Trump said that there has to be “something artificially causing” the increase in autism.
But the CDC study released in April noted that children diagnosed with autism who were born in 2018 had more evaluations than children born in 2014. Following the release of the study, the Autism Science Foundation responded with a statement saying it was proof that better screening and destigmatization of autism was the real reason for the increase.
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