Here we go again. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has again broken promises and betrayed his responsibilities as a public health official, this time by altering the CDC’s webpage on vaccines and autism. And that’s not all.

It originally contained the scientifically supported statement that there is “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder” and cited several rigorous scientific studies to back this up. Under Kennedy’s command, it has been altered to voice anti-vaccination disinformation, now 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.”

In his zeal to dismantle vital research and science-based policy, Kennedy has now all but destroyed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Having dismantled its ability to track and report disease outbreaks, he’s now making it a megaphone for anti-vaccine disinformation. Many dedicated scientists and public health professionals still work at the CDC and remain devoted to evidence-based science. But their efforts are sabotaged daily by Kennedy, who disdains science and embraces wild conspiracy theories.

Kennedy’s claims about a link between autism and vaccination are purposely misleading. Scientific research can never prove a negative — all that we as scientists can do is weigh all the evidence, which unequivocally indicates no link between vaccines and autism. In particular, a 2019 Danish study of 657,461 children concluded that vaccination “does not increase the risk for autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases after vaccination.”

Another study from Denmark that observed at least 1 million children over 20 years showed no link between aluminum in vaccines and autism. Kennedy tried desperately to have this article retracted, but solid science prevailed. In contrast, Andrew Wakefield’s infamous 1998 study that claimed to connect vaccines with autism, igniting anti-vaccine sentiment, was so bogus that it was retracted by the journal that published it.

What’s more, as evidenced by a report we wrote for the advocacy group Defend Public Health, the scientific community knows a lot about what causes autism. Autism diagnoses are increasing because we understand and screen for it better — there is no “autism epidemic,” as Kennedy has falsely claimed. The primary contributors to autism are genetic.

Kennedy doesn’t care. He has no scientific training, just his prejudices, and no evidence will persuade him. It probably doesn’t hurt that he’s raked in considerable money from lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers.

He doesn’t care that he’s violated his promises to Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., that he would not limit access to vaccines as HHS secretary. Cassidy, a physician who knows the value of vaccines, cast the crucial vote for Kennedy’s confirmation largely based on those false assurances. And now, Kennedy’s handpicked vaccine advisors have taken the first steps toward dismantling the childhood vaccine schedule that has saved millions of lives.

But the problem goes far beyond vaccines. Kennedy has destroyed the CDC’s credibility, so that leading medical and public health organizations operating independently of the Trump administration warn that the CDC can’t be trusted. He fired the CDC’s director for refusing to cater to his whims in August, leading to mass resignations and a rare denunciation of Kennedy by nine former CDC directors.

In April, a surge of mass firings prompted the health advocacy group AVAC to note, “At the CDC, widespread layoffs have decimated critical divisions, including Reproductive Health, Population Health, and HIV and STD Prevention.” Half the employees at the Division of HIV Prevention received reduction in force notices, and the director of the National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention was placed on administrative leave.

Additional staff cuts in October represent just the latest wave of destruction. The agency’s ability to do its central job of tracking disease outbreaks and protecting the public from health risks is severely incapacitated.

The destruction of the world’s leading public health organization endangers us all. Congress has the power to stop it — if necessary, by impeaching and removing the most dangerous HHS secretary in U.S. history.

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Elizabeth Jacobs, an epidemiologist and professor emerita at the University of Arizona, and James Alwine, a virologist and professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, both serve on the coordinating committee of the national advocacy network Defend Public Health. This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.

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