ASSAULT ON SCIENCEAfter Unprecedented Autism-Vaccine Messaging Change, Scientists, Advocates Say CDC No Longer Trustworthy
“Ideology has replaced science as the means for addressing life-saving research and best practices that save lives,” said CIDRAP director Michael T. Osterholm. The “propaganda machine for RFK Jr.’s fixed, immutable, science-resistant theories” has triumphed at the CDC, said Paul Offit, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “It’s not enough to push the snake oil. You have to discredit mainstream biomedical science and portray scientists as public enemies or cartoon villains, and that’s what Kennedy’s seeking to do,” said Peter Hotez, codirector of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.
For nearly 80 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was respected around the world for its authoritative, evidence-based leadership in public health.
But the CDC’s stunning reversal Wednesday—stating on its website that “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism”—shows the agency can no longer be trusted, multiple doctors and public health advocates told CIDRAP News.
Until late yesterday, the CDC webpage accurately stated, “Studies have shown that there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). No links have been found between any vaccine ingredients and ASD.”
Today, the CDC website echoes the views of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has claimed without evidence that vaccines cause autism.
The CDC website 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.”
A ‘Tragic Day’ for Public Health
Instead of a global leader in science, the CDC has devolved into “a propaganda machine for RFK Jr.’s fixed, immutable, science-resistant theories,” said Paul Offit, MD, an infectious disease specialist at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine. “The CDC is being weaponized to promote RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine point of view. So why should you trust it?”
Many public health experts who spoke to CIDRAP News sounded sorrowful.
“Today is a tragic day for public health, for the US government,” said Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (publisher of CIDRAP News). “Ideology has replaced science as the means for addressing life-saving research and best practices that save lives.”
Many physicians worry that the CDC’s new message will dissuade parents from vaccinating their children.
“This will cause real harm,” said Jake Scott, MD, an infectious disease expert and clinical associate professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
“Parents searching for trustworthy information will find official CDC language that appears to validate concerns that have been thoroughly debunked. Some will delay or skip vaccines. We know what happens next—preventable diseases return to communities with low vaccination rates.”
