Under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine advocate who is now Health and Human Services secretary, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised its website to say that its previous statement that “vaccines do not cause autism” is “not an evidence-based claim.” But it’s the revised website that misleads about vaccines.
A presentation by scientists on a work group for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel highlighted various alleged “safety uncertainties” of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, including those about cancer and changes to the immune system. Scientists, however, told us that many of the cited studies are either misconstrued or of poor quality.
As justification for a Food and Drug Administration review of a drug used in medication abortion, two Trump administration health officials have referenced an April report from an anti-abortion group that claims to show a far higher rate of serious side effects from the drug than has been found previously. However, the report, which is not peer-reviewed research, didn’t disclose where it got its data and has substantial methodological issues, reproductive health experts say.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. further added to the Trump administration’s problematic claims about Tylenol and autism on Oct. 9, alleging during a Cabinet meeting that circumcision-related studies provide evidence that the drug causes the condition when given to children. The studies, however, do no such thing.
A day after a shooting at a school in Minnesota, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed, as he has before, that certain antidepressant drugs, known as SSRIs, “might be contributing to violence” in such cases. Experts say there is no direct evidence linking SSRIs to mass shootings. He also falsely claimed SSRIs have black box warnings for homicidal ideation.
On Sept. 18, the vaccine advisory committee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to change its recommendation on the combined vaccine for chickenpox and measles, mumps and rubella, called the MMRV vaccine. We spoke to experts about claims made at the meeting as well as the implications of the vote.
In a Sept. 22 press conference that he had billed as “one of the biggest [medical] announcements … in the history of our country,” President Donald Trump touted an unproven link between autism and the use of Tylenol, or acetaminophen, during pregnancy.
An hourlong press conference about autism was filled with false and misleading claims about the condition and vaccines from President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., many of which we have written about before.
In the battle over how the One Big Beautiful Bill Act affects rural hospitals, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has touted a five-year $50 billion fund as “an infusion of cash” that will “restore and revitalize” rural communities. But his statements ignore the higher estimated Medicaid spending cuts to rural areas under the law.
News reports have indicated Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may point to Tylenol and folate deficiency in his promised announcement on the causes of autism. But neither Tylenol nor folate deficiency has been shown to cause autism. Some evidence has pointed away from Tylenol as a risk factor.