Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has authorized a study that aims to determine the cause of autism by September.
The 71-year-old political scion, who has long claimed that childhood vaccines are responsible for the disorder, shared his plans on Thursday during a Cabinet meeting with Trump. Kennedy said the “massive testing and research effort” would involved hundreds of scientists.
The president supported the study and seemingly entertained the idea that vaccines are to blame for autism.
“There’s got to be something artificial out there that’s doing this,” Trump told Kennedy. “If you can come up with that answer, where you stop taking something, eating something — or maybe it’s a shot. But something’s causing it.”
While the cause of autism remains a bit of a mystery — despite persistent claims by internet conspiracy theorists — the scientific community has largely been in agreement that childhood vaccines are not a contributing factor.
The Centers for Disease Control, now under Kennedy’s purview, has too concluded that no links have been found between receiving vaccines and the neurodevelopmental disorder that affects an estimated 5.4 million American adults.
Kennedy has expressed skepticism over inoculation and is known to traffic in medical misinformation. In 2005, he penned an essay for Rolling Stone and Salon claiming the U.S. government “knowingly allowed the pharmaceutical industry to poison an entire generation of American children” with a preservative that’s been used in vaccines.
Salon retracted that story six years later.
Kennedy said Thursday that soon “we will know” what’s behind autism. He tasked David Geier, a vaccine skeptic and long-discredited researcher, with leading his team’s efforts.
Autism advocacy groups worry that Kennedy’s study may prove counterproductive.
“There is a deep concern that we are going backward and evaluating debunked theories,” Autism Speaks spokeswoman Kristyn Roth told The Associated Press.
In January, more than 15,000 doctors signed a letter asking the Senate to reject Kennedy’s confirmation to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, calling him “unqualified” and “actively dangerous.”
Despite their protests, he was confirmed in a vote of 52-48.
With News Wire Services
