RFK Jr. takes credit for scrubbing 'vaccines don't cause autism' from CDC site

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Nov 21, 2025

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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is reportedly personally taking credit for scrubbing a statement that “vaccines don’t cause autism” from the Centers for Disease Control web site.

The controversial vaccine skeptic said he ordered the change because he believes there could be a link between childhood vaccinations and rising autism rates, even though public health experts widely agree that any such link has been ruled out, the New York Times reported on Friday.

“The whole thing about ‘vaccines have been tested and there’s been this determination made,’ is just a lie,” Kennedy told the paper in an interview conducted on Thursday. “The phrase ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not supported by science.”

Kennedy added that the best way to convince parents to vaccinate their children was to be honest with them about pros and cons of the lifesaving shots.

“My job is not to gaslight Americans but to give them accurate information about the state of the science,” the Trump-appointed health secretary said.

The CDC website was updated to reflect Kennedy’s views on Wednesday but the interview amounts to the first formal confirmation that Kennedy himself directed the controversial change.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, a medical doctor who has occasionally sparred with Kennedy over vaccines, denounced the change and predicted it would cause more parents to avoid vaccinating their children.

That in turn, will lead to more kids becoming ill and even dying from preventable diseases that vaccines have all but eradicated, he predicted.

“Vaccines for measles, polio, hepatitis B and other childhood diseases are safe and effective and will not cause autism,” Cassidy tweeted in a rebuke to the change. “Any statement to the contrary is wrong, irresponsible, and actively makes Americans sicker.”

The CDC website previously had a statement simply saying “Vaccines do not cause autism” along with a primer about what it said were false efforts to claim a possible link.

The site now has an asterisk next to the statement and highlights the remark: “the statement ‘Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim.”

The website change is the latest move by Kennedy to pump up public distrust in the long-held scientific consensus about the safety of vaccines and other drugs.

It was immediately decried by experts who say widespread scientific consensus and decades of studies have firmly concluded there is no link between vaccines and autism.

“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,” Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement.