The US’ health agency has updated its official Web site to reflect vaccine skepticism, a move that medical and public health experts widely condemned.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday revised its Web site with language that undermines its previous, scientifically grounded position that immunizations do not cause the developmental disability autism.
Years of research demonstrate there is no causal link between vaccinations and autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders, but US Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr has long voiced anti-vaccine rhetoric and inaccurate claims connecting the two.
Photo: AFP
The CDC Web page on vaccines and autism previously stated that studies show “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder,” citing a body of high-quality research, including a 2013 study from the agency itself.
That text reflected medical and scientific consensus, including guidance from the WHO.
However, the Web site now states, “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 revised language accuses health authorities of having “ignored” research supporting a link and said the US health department “has launched a comprehensive assessment of the causes of autism.”
A purported connection between the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and autism stemmed from a flawed study published in 1998, which was retracted for including falsified data. Its results have not been replicated and are refuted by subsequent research.
Amid the rewrite, one header remained: “Vaccines do not cause Autism.”
A footnote explains that the line was not cut due to an agreement Kennedy had made with US Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor who chairs the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Cassidy on Thursday insisted on vaccine safety and efficacy in a post on X, saying “any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible and actively makes Americans sicker.”
“What parents need to hear right now is vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective, and will not cause autism,” he said.
The CDC Web site edits were met with anger and fear by career scientists and other public health figures who have spent years combatting such false information, including from within the agency.
“I feel like we are going back to the Dark Ages. I feel like we are undermining science by tying it to people’s political agendas,” Boston University Center for Autism Research Excellence director Helen Tager-Flusberg said. “We’re going to see a significant increase in these childhood diseases.”
American Academy of Pediatrics president Susan Kressly said, “we call on the CDC to stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims that sow doubt in one of the best tools we have to keep children healthy and thriving: routine immunizations.”
The latest batch from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s e-mails illustrates the extraordinary scope of his contacts with powerful people, ranging from a top Trump adviser to Britain’s ex-prince Andrew. The US House of Representatives is expected to vote this week on trying to force release of evidence gathered on Epstein by law enforcement over the years — including the identities of the men suspected of participating in his alleged sex trafficking ring. However, a slew of e-mails released this week have already opened new windows to the extent of Epstein’s network. These include multiple references to US President Donald
CHARGES: The former president, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for a failed coup bid, as well as an assassination plot Far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is running out of options to avoid prison, after judges on Friday rejected his appeal against a 27-year sentence for a botched coup bid. Bolsonaro lost the 2022 elections and was convicted in September for his efforts to prevent Brazlian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking power after the polls. Prosecutors said the scheme — which included plans to assassinate Lula and a top Brazilian Supreme Court judge — failed only due to a lack of support from military top brass. A panel of Supreme Court judges weighing Bolsonaro’s appeal all voted to uphold
Chinese tech giant Alibaba yesterday denied it helps Beijing target the US, saying that a recent news report was “completely false.” The Financial Times yesterday reported that Alibaba “provides tech support for Chinese military ‘operations’ against [US] targets,” a White House memo provided to the newspaper showed. Alibaba hands customer data, including “IP addresses, WiFi information and payment records,” to Chinese authorities and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the report cited the memo as saying. The Financial Times said it could not independently verify the claims, adding that the White House believes the actions threaten US security. An Alibaba Group spokesperson said “the assertions
LEFT AND RIGHT: Battling anti-incumbent, anticommunist sentiment, Jeanette Jara had a precarious lead over far-right Jose Antonio Kast as they look to the Dec. 14 run Leftist candidate Jeannette Jara and far-right leader Jose Antonio Kast are to go head-to-head in Chile’s presidential runoff after topping Sunday’s first round of voting in an election dominated by fears of violent crime. With 99 percent of the results counted, Jara, a 51-year-old communist running on behalf of an eight-party coalition, won 26.85 percent, compared with 23.93 percent for Kast, the Servel electoral service said. The election was dominated by deep concern over a surge in murders, kidnappings and extortion widely blamed on foreign crime gangs. Kast, 59, has vowed to build walls, fences and trenches along Chile’s border with Bolivia to
RSS