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Kennedy bucks CDC on autism

The HHS head does not believe the rising rate of autism spectrum disorder is linked to improvements in diagnostic practices, contradicting what the CDC says in a report.

© Greg Nash, The Hill

During a hastily called press conference Wednesday, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested without evidence that “environmental toxins” in food and medicine were to blame for rising autism rates.

"One of the things I think we need to move away from today is this ideology that the autism prevalence increases, the relentless increases, are simply artifacts of better diagnoses, better recognition, or changing diagnostic criteria," Kennedy said.

He also said there is not a genetic link to the condition, despite the CDC’s past research showing otherwise.

“This is a preventable disease. We know it's an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. It can provide a vulnerability. You need an environmental toxin,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy accused the media and scientists of essentially engaging in a coverup of what he repeatedly called an “epidemic” and said he would announce a series of studies in the next two or three weeks “to identify precisely what the environmental toxins are that are causing it.”

Evidence suggests there is no single cause of autism, but Kennedy has said he wants to identify the “toxins” and will look at mold, food additives, pesticides, water, medicines, ultrasound and obesity.

“Clearly, there are industries. This is coming from an environmental toxin, and somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin into our air, our water, our medicines, our food. And it's to their benefit to say, oh, to normalize it,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy’s comments come roughly a week after he announced that the HHS would launch a “massive testing and research effort” to find the cause of autism by September. When pressed about that deadline, Kennedy said the agency would have “some answers” about the cause of autism spectrum disorder by then.

Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.

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