Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr is declaring a war on autism — claiming the neurodevelopmental condition is an epidemic that’s far worse than the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.
“This is an epidemic. It dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because COVID killed old people,” Kennedy said Sunday on “The Cats Roundtable” radio show on WABC 770 AM.
“Autism affects children and affects them at the beginning of their lives, the beginning of their productivity,” the 71-year-old told host John Catsimatidis.
One in every 31 Americans is now diagnosed, Kennedy added, insisting that the economic cost of autism will skyrocket to $1 trillion a year by 2035.
“About 26% of them have no capacity [to live independently]. And the indications are they never will,” the HHS secretary said.
“We’re taking kids that should be healthy, that should be contributing to society … that should be … reaching their potential … and we’re injuring them very early in life. It’s an epidemic,” he said.
Autism spectrum disorder has no single known cause. However, scientists believe both genetics and environmental factors, such as complications during pregnancy, may play a role.
Earlier this month, Kennedy announced that his department would examine six “environmental factors” that he said could lead to autism.
Among the “factors” the HHS boss said would be scrutinized are ultrasound scans, mold, pesticides, food chemicals, medicines and air and water contamination.
Meanwhile, Kennedy accused the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control — agencies now under his control — of blocking studies over the years into the cause of autism.
“The problem is that NIH and CDC have blocked all the studies that would determine the environmental exposure. So we don’t know. Instead, they studied genes. Genes contribute to autism … but you need an environmental toxin. That’s what we are now going to look for,” Kennedy told Catsimatidis.
“We’re deploying 15 teams to look at all the potential exposures. It could be mold. It could be food additives. It could be pesticides. It could be vaccines. It could be ultrasound, plastic bottles,” he continued.
“We’re going to look at the age of the parents. We’re going to look at everything that could contribute to it … We’re going to figure out what it is.”
Many studies have probed whether there is a link between vaccines and autism. However, no research to date has shown that getting immunized causes the disorder, according to the CDC.
Kennedy’s “environmental factor” also clashes with a study published last week by the CDC, which concluded that the uptick in confirmed autism cases was likely due to improved “early detection” technology and “increased awareness of the condition.”
The CDC study revealed that one in 31 children under the age of 8 are diagnosed with autism, up from one in 54 in 2016 and one in 150 in 2000.
The Autism Society of America also contradicted Kennedy by insisting the CDC data “does not signal an ‘epidemic’ as narratives are claiming — it reflects diagnostic progress, and an urgent need for policy decisions rooted in science and the immediate needs of the Autism community.”
Kennedy has been criticized by the medical community over the years for his skepticism regarding vaccines. During his tense confirmation hearing, he defended citing links between immunizations and rising childhood rates of autism.