Robert F Kennedy Jr to reveal autism 'causes' amid vaccine debate. Photo / Getty Images
Robert F Kennedy Jr to reveal autism 'causes' amid vaccine debate. Photo / Getty Images
Robert F. Kennedy jnr is to reveal what he claims are the “causes” of autism at a news conference in September.
Donald Trump’s US health secretary launched an inquiry into the root of the neurological condition, which is widely believed to be at least partially influenced by genetics.
During alengthy Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Kennedy said: “We’re finding interventions, certain interventions now that are clearly, almost certainly causing autism.
“And we’re going to be able to address those in September.”
The President cited a rise in autism diagnoses, adding: “There has to be something artificially causing this, meaning a drug or something... we’re going to do some things.”
In July 2023, Kennedy, then a Democratic presidential hopeful, told Fox News: “I do believe that autism comes from vaccines”.
The link between the MMR vaccine and autism was first drawn by Andrew Wakefield, a British medical researcher. His 1998 study was later found to be fraudulent, and he was barred from practising medicine in the UK.
Kennedy’s announcement comes as his Make America Healthy Again (Maha) movement remains locked in a battle with the head of the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), after she was ousted by the White House.
The chief of America’s top public health agency is refusing to quit after she reportedly clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policy.
Lawyers for Dr Susan Monarez have said she can only be fired directly by Trump himself, even though the White House on Wednesday said she had been removed.
The standoff comes less than a month after she was confirmed by the Senate to lead the CDC, and days after Kennedy reportedly tried to push her out.
Four other senior scientists also quit the agency, reportedly in apparent frustration at Kennedy’s leadership and sceptical stance on vaccines.
Sources told CNN that Monarez had clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policies, including an upcoming announcement that could draw links between immunisations and autism.
Another source also told the New York Times that the pair had been at odds over vaccine policy.
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