Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday announced plans to launch a controversial new multinational study into autism. The announcement, made during a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump, comes amid lingering criticism that Kennedy has offered mixed messaging on vaccination, including whether it causes autism. While Kennedy, a lawyer who previously sued vaccine manufacturers, endorsed the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine on Sunday, calling it "the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles," he also Sunday backed the use of unproven treatments for the infectious disease that has claimed three lives in the U.S. during this most recent outbreak. He has also continued to draw lines between vaccines and autism despite criticism from public health experts who say such a link has been thoroughly and repeatedly debunked. Experts have repeatedly stated that the increase in autism diagnoses over time stems from increased testing, changes to how the disorder is diagnosed and greater awareness of the condition. On Thursday, during remarks updating the president on HHS’ current and future work promoting the "Make America Healthy Again" initiative, Kennedy committed to finding the cause of the uptick in autism diagnoses by September. “We have launched a massive testing and research effort that is going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world. By September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we will be able to eliminate those exposures,” said Kennedy. Prior to his confirmation, Kennedy declined to disavow the claim linking vaccines and autism during questioning from the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees. Kennedy stated that the most recent child autism rates “are going to be about 1 in 31” compared to 1 in 10,000 when he was a child. He did not specify the source for those figures. “From your direction, we are going to know by September,” he said to Trump. While Kennedy made no specific mention of vaccines during his remarks, Trump left the door open for reigniting debunked claims linking autism and vaccines. “There will be no bigger news conference than that, so if you can come up with that answer where you stop taking something, you stop eating something or maybe it’s a shot that’s causing it,” said Trump. “There has got to be something artificial out there that’s doing this.” House Energy and Commerce Democrats wrote to Kennedy and acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez on Thursday seeking answers on why the department had hired David Geier, a vaccine skeptic who has claimed a link between autism and vaccines. Geier, who was previously penalized for practicing medicine without a medical license, was tapped to lead a national study on vaccination. Kennedy also announced a “dramatic reduction in animal testing” at the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration. “We are going to switch over to AI, which we have now found is much more precise in identifying the impacts of toxics in various products,” said Kennedy. He did not clarify which toxins or chemicals this would include. FDA Director Marty Makary said in a statement that the agency plans to use “AI-based computational modeling, human organ model-based lab testing, and real-world human data” in an effort to reduce costs and reliance on animal testing. The agency will work on updating its guidelines to incorporate data gathered through these models, and may provide a streamlined review process for companies that present promising safety data using these alternatives, according to the agency. The FDA also plans to launch a new pilot program this year to allow testing for the development of monoclonal antibody therapies using primarily alternatives to animal testing.
