The CDC has changed the messaging on its website about vaccines and autism, posting a statement that reads that “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” CIDRAP has the news.
Until yesterday, the CDC webpage stated that “studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). No links have been found between any vaccine ingredients and ASD.” Experts are characterizing the change to the new message as a weaponization of the agency to “promote [HHS Secretary] RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine point of view.”
The CDC also “removed scientific reviews of vaccines from its website. The website now rehashes conspiracy theories claiming that government scientists and the medical community have hidden the truth about vaccines, claiming that ‘studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.’”
Susan J. Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, stated definitively in response to this change that “the conclusion is clear and unambiguous: there’s no link between vaccines and autism.” Kennedy also previously promised Bill Cassidy in his confirmation hearing that he would “not remove statements on the CDC website that said vaccines do not cause autism.”
A group of healthcare organizations in the U.S., including SHEA, also released a statement regarding this change on the CDC website. They wrote that “medical researchers across the globe have spent more than 25 years thoroughly studying this claim. All have come to the same conclusion: Vaccines are not linked to autism.” They “call on the CDC to return to its long history of promoting evidence-based information in the service of protecting the health and wellbeing of all Americans.”
