The right to trustworthy medical advice from the government should always be prioritized over political agendas. The integrity of U.S. governmental medical agencies has recently been compromised as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed a page on their website, which for years clearly stated that “no links have been found between any vaccine ingredients and Autism spectrum disorder.” They modified this page to argue that the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is not based on scientific evidence. This politically-charged event reflects on the rising corruption in the United States’ government and ought to bring awareness to the idea that politics should never have a role in information given by governmental medical agencies.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration, recently admitted to requesting this change. Former CDC officials have stated that a personal request like this from the Secretary is highly unusual, as typically the changes would be initiated by agency scientists and then occasionally sent to the Secretary’s office for review. The page’s information did not receive the necessary input from CDC staffers, as their opinions were ignored in favor of those held by R.F.K., who is extremely unqualified to be making such decisions. He has had no real medical experience prior to this job; he has Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees.
Many CDC officials have stated they were surprised at the new alteration. Dr. Debra Houry, a former top CDC official who resigned from the agency in August, said several scientists at the organization have stated that none of them were aware of the new content change, and “when scientists are cut out of scientific reviews, then inaccurate and ideologic information results.” Dr. Daniel Jernigan, who also resigned from the agency in August, told reporters on Wednesday that R.F.K. seems to be “going from evidence-based decision-making to decision-based evidence-making.”
The political agenda, which clearly informed much of this new medical “evidence,” poses a serious threat to both the welfare of citizens and the ability for concerned parents to make informed choices. Scientific information should always be reviewed numerous times by experienced eyes prior to publishing. If new evidence isn’t reviewed properly, it cannot be considered trustworthy. Additionally, the new page presents no new evidence proving a causal relationship between autism and vaccines; it just says that since “studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism,” further study is warranted.
However, the claim that vaccines do not cause autism has been medically acknowledged for years and proven by dozens of studies. In the new CDC paper, it states that “the rise in autism prevalence since the 1980s correlates with the number of vaccines given to infants.” This is extremely misleading; many other things have increased in the same era. The correlation between these two things is simply irrelevant—it is like saying the number of people who get the flu correlates to the number of people who wear clothes. According to Johns Hopkins, the recent increase in autism prevalence is primarily due to “the broadened definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder” and the “many widely successful public health programs that increased screening at wellness visits for children ages 18–24 months to look for signs of autism.” The CDC’s deceptive claim that autism rates and vaccination rates correlate showcases the growing rise of inaccuracy in governmental medical agencies, jeopardizing the safety of the public.
R.F.K. has been known to oppose vaccines, and now he is unethically using the CDC as a tool to spread his ideology. One former CDC official called the claims on the new page “devilspeak” and said that “the secretary does not respect public health, does not understand science, and frankly, is weaponizing CDC for the potential of future profit of his colleagues and himself.” The Autism Science Foundation also recently rebutted the new claims, saying that “[they] are appalled to find that the content on the CDC webpage ‘Autism and Vaccines’ has been changed and distorted, and is now filled with anti-vaccine rhetoric and outright lies about vaccines and autism.” R.F.K is cherry-picking facts and using the CDC as a tool for his own personal benefit, preying on vulnerable nervous parents seeking reliable information.
On the website of the World Health Organization, it clearly states that “every human being has the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,” and that “countries have a legal obligation to develop and implement legislation and policies that guarantee universal access to quality health services.” The U.S. is violating this standard by allowing politics to influence the information given by public health agencies and projecting the political opinions of those who run it to sway citizens. This will be detrimental to the well-being of Americans, as now many children will be deprived of the vaccines that for years have been proven to be beneficial.
This politically-charged event reflects on the incompetence of the Department of Health and Human Services underneath the Trump administration and the unethical usage of governmental medical agencies as a political tool. It is in the hands of the public to make sure that they rise up against this growing corruption by protesting and staying aware for themselves through fact checking CDC information, gaining back the integrity of medical knowledge
