The secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said he will find the cure to autism by September, and I am skeptical.
Based on Kennedy’s disregard for past discoveries, such as zero connection between vaccines and autism, as well as some questionable actions with hiring David Geier, this whole operation is sketchy and not worth the resources going into it.
What makes him think that he can find in five months what scientists over decades have not? It’s not realistic.
The shadiest part to me is nobody trusts him. The Autism Society of America said in a statement, “We are deeply concerned by the lack of transparency around this effort—who is leading it, what methods are being used, and whether it will meet established scientific standards.”
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network has also spoken against Kennedy’s claims. In a statement, they said, “They’re not going in with an open mind, going, ‘Oh, I wonder what causes autism.’ They’re going: ‘We’re going to prove that it’s caused by a certain thing.’”
These quotes show nobody believes in his motivations for finding the cause of autism. It isn’t feasible to accomplish his goals in his allotted time frame.
On top of Kennedy’s wild claims, his credibility is being questioned. Kennedy has directed the CDC to study vaccines and autism despite there being no link between the two. Kennedy has historically been anti-vaccine and has commented on a measles outbreak that has killed two children. Kennedy said the two children died of other complications, but the Texas Health Department said that neither child had reported any other issues.
Another cause for concern is how quiet Kennedy has been. He has not talked about his process or where his funding is coming from at all. His co-worker, David Geier, has refused to comment.
Geier has been hired as a senior data analyst and will be in charge of analyzing the data found in the studies. He has been fined in Maryland for practicing medicine with no medical degree or license and has prescribed dangerous treatments to autistic children. He has also published a since retracted paper about a connection between autism and vaccines. Rightfully so, Kennedy has also faced backlash for his questionable hire of Geier from The Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
The rates of autism have increased a lot over the years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “1 in 36 children have been identified with Autism Spectrum Disorder.” There are many reasons for this.
One reason is that we know more about it now. California has the highest rates of autism in children, but one reason for that is because there are more pediatricians that have been trained to screen and refer children to get assessed as early as possible.
Another reason for the increased rates is that the resources to get assessed for autism are more accessible. Pennsylvania has the second highest prevalence of autism in children and has a state Medicaid policy that provides insurance to children with “…physical, developmental, mental health, or intellectual disabilities regardless of parents’ income.” This makes getting the resources the child needs more accessible to families that need it.
Knowing the cause of autism sounds like a good thing, but it needs to be more than a publicity stunt. It needs to be taken seriously and given the best chances to succeed. Kennedy’s quest to find the cause of autism is not set up to succeed. There is too little trust in his claims and in his actions.