Robert F. Kennedy Jr., serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services, instructed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to alter its website language on vaccines and autism.
The CDC’s prior statement that “vaccines do not cause autism” was replaced with language stating: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” The site also added: “Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”
The change followed Kennedy’s Senate confirmation, during which he promised not to take this action. The shift occurred within the CDC’s public-facing information platform and was carried out after Kennedy’s direction as the department head overseeing the agency.
The letter argues that the revised CDC messaging will increase vaccine skepticism, erode the federal government’s reliability as an information source, and lead to preventable childhood illness and deaths, and calls for Kennedy’s impeachment.