“Reckless and dangerous”: consultants weigh in on CDC’s autism-vaccine hyperlink stance
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) has up to date its web site to state that there could possibly be a hyperlink between autism and vaccines.
The choice to now publicly state a correlation between autism and vaccines undermines the CDC’s longtime place of the opposite. The alleged connection between vaccines and autism has lengthy been debunked by a big physique of high-quality analysis. US Secretary of Well being and Human Providers (HHS), Robert F Kennedy (RFK) Jr, nonetheless, has lengthy promoted the declare and instigated analysis into proving the hyperlink.
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“The declare ‘vaccines don’t trigger autism’ is just not an evidence-based declare as a result of research haven’t dominated out the likelihood that toddler vaccines trigger autism,” the CDC’s web site now states, as per a 20 November replace.
“Nevertheless, this assertion has traditionally been disseminated by the CDC and different federal well being companies inside HHS to forestall vaccine hesitancy,” the web site provides.
The CDC stated it should replace its web page with the findings from a complete evaluation undertaken by the HHS on the causes of autism.
The web site’s title reads “Vaccines don’t trigger Autism”, which has been positioned there as per an settlement with Senator Invoice Cassidy to safe RFK Jr’s affirmation. Nevertheless, this assertion is straight undermined by the bullet factors that precede it.
In a LinkedIn put up on 20 November, Cassidy wrote: “I’m a health care provider who has seen folks die from vaccine-preventable ailments. What mother and father want to listen to proper now’s vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and different childhood ailments are secure and efficient and won’t trigger autism. Any assertion on the contrary is fallacious, irresponsible, and actively makes People sicker.”
I’m a health care provider who has seen folks die from vaccine-preventable ailments. What mother and father want to listen to proper now’s vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and different childhood ailments are secure and efficient and won’t trigger autism. Any assertion on the contrary is fallacious,…
— U.S. Senator Invoice Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) November 20, 2025
The broader psychiatric, infectious illness, and autism communities additionally condemned the CDC’s stance.
The American Public Well being Affiliation (APHA) stated it’s “alarmed that the CDC is selling the outdated, disproven concept that vaccines trigger autism”.
“Right this moment, our organisations reject this newest try and create concern round routine childhood immunisations. Vaccines rank amongst our biggest medical success tales,” the affiliation added.
The Infectious Illnesses Society of America (IDSA) stated in an announcement: “Many years of rigorous and scientifically sound analysis have confirmed that vaccines don’t trigger autism. CDC’s sudden resolution to vary language on its web site, reversing that discovering, is reckless and dangerous.
“This variation is deeply troubling as a result of it’s false and lacks transparency. There isn’t any scientific rationale for CDC to vary its long-standing assertion that there isn’t any hyperlink between vaccines and autism. This variation is just not pushed by science however by politics and can solely serve to extend distrust in science and drugs.”
In July 2025, the IDSA was one in all a swathe of organisations to sue RFK Jr and the HHS over modifications made to the nationwide immunisation schedule and CDC’s vaccine panel of consultants.
The Autism Science Basis’s president Alison Singer stated: “The info don’t change as a result of the administration does. At this level, it’s not about doing extra research; it’s about being prepared to simply accept what the present research knowledge clearly present. You may’t simply ignore knowledge as a result of it doesn’t verify your beliefs, however that’s what the administration is doing.”
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