Amid a massive reorganization of the federal healthcare infrastructure that has prompted pushback from biotech and healthcare leaders alike, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is forging ahead with a top priority of the Make America Healthy Again movement.

By September, the health secretary claims a sweeping HHS research push will have determined the root cause of the nation's “autism epidemic.” Kennedy is deploying “hundreds of scientists from around the world” under a “massive testing and research effort” to nail down the cause of rising autism rates and “eliminate those exposures,” he declared at a Thursday cabinet meeting.

At the meeting, President Donald Trump agreed that “there’s got to be something artificial” that’s causing the spike in autism rates. About 1 in 36 children have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the U.S., according to the CDC, reflecting wider prevalence than the 1 in 150 children reported in 2000.

Trump suggested that Kennedy could “come up with an answer where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it’s a shot.”

The latter point, that autism may be linked to vaccines, is one Kennedy has a long history of endorsing, dating back to a now-retracted 2005 article in Rolling Stone. The claim gave some senators pause during his confirmation hearings, despite Kennedy’s assurance that he is not anti-vaccine but is instead “pro-safety.” 

Upon being asked by Sen. Bill Cassidy, M.D., R-Louisiana, if he would “unequivocally and without hesitation” assure mothers that measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism,” Kennedy responded that he would, but only if “the data was there.”

During his Senate hearings, Kennedy also committed to recommending that children follow the CDC’s vaccine schedule and looked to “restore trust in vaccines” with the help of “good science.” However, shortly after the Senate confirmed him as HHS secretary, Kennedy referenced the childhood vaccine schedule as something not “off-limits” in his investigation of the causes of a “drastic rise” in chronic diseases. Since then, two regularly scheduled vaccine advisory committee meetings have been called off.

Autism advocacy groups such as the Autistic Self Advocacy Network have already highlighted concerns with Kennedy's newly announced research initiative and the tight timeline he set to conclude his research.

Kennedy’s September deadline “demonstrates his disregard for scientific studies, and his dangerous conviction that he has already found the answer,” ASAN said in a statement. “Even if he were not clearly committed to pushing dangerous and debunked pseudoscience about vaccines, it is simply impossible that actual research into a supposed environmental cause of autism could be completed by September–real science does not move that quickly, because real science cares about truth.” 

According to the CDC, studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with ASD. Advocacy group Autism Speaks notes that autism instead develops out of a combination of “genetic influences and environmental influences” and that the reported prevalence of the condition may be on the rise due to broader diagnostic criteria, improved screening tools and increased awareness among the general public and medical professionals. 

In other words, the “autism epidemic” Kennedy refers to could be attributed to a more modern diagnostic process and a greater focus on earlier detection and intervention.

Despite the existing research, the CDC last month began plotting a “large study” into the potential link between vaccines and autism, Reuters first reported. 

An increased push from U.S. health agencies on vaccine scrutiny is part of why Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., was recently ousted from his former post as the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Marks cited Kennedy’s desire for “subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies” in his resignation letter, which was inked upon Marks’ belief that he had to resign or that “they were going to fire me,” he said in an interview with the Associated Press.

According to Marks, Kennedy’s team at HHS had been seeking full access to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reports System (VAERS), a surveillance program that can spot patterns but not accurately detect if vaccination causes an adverse event. While the former FDA leader was “willing to compromise” on improving the system, he refused to give Kennedy’s team full access, thinking “they’d write over it or erase the whole database,” he told AP.