Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Thursday evening vowed that his push to discover what causes autism will be transparent and quick.
“We’re going to be very transparent in how we design the studies,” he told Fox News’s Sean Hannity in an interview. “We’re going to be transparent about our protocols, about the data sets and then every study will have to be replicated.”
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine advocate, was confirmed to oversee the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in February after President Trump nominated the former independent presidential candidate for the post. He has touted an effort dubbed “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA), that includes eliminating food additives and refocusing federal efforts toward chronic conditions instead of infectious diseases.
Among his chief initiatives is the push to find the cause of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), a neurodevelopmental condition that affects nearly 5.5 million Americans, according to the most recent estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kennedy, who spent decades as an environmental lawyer, announced during an April 10 cabinet meeting that HHS had launched a “massive testing and research effort” to find the root causes of autism.
“President Trump asked me to find out what’s causing it, and I’m approaching that agnostically,” he told Hannity on Thursday. “We are going to have an answer and we’re going to have it very quickly.”
HHS will “farm the studies out to 15 premier research groups from all over the country,” he said.
Kennedy also noted that he expects preliminary findings in about six months but acknowledged that “definitive answers” will take “probably a year.”
“A lot of these studies will not go out until the end of the summer,” he told Hannity.
Kennedy reeled off a litany of potential factors that he expects to be examined.
“We’re going to look at mold; we’re going to look at the age of parents,” he said. “We’re going to look at food and food additives; we’re going to look at pesticides and toxic exposures; we’re going to look at medicines; we’re going to look at vaccines.”
“We’re going to look at everything,” he said.
CDC researchers released a report Tuesday on research that found about 1 in every 31 children were diagnosed with autism in 2022, continuing a steady increase in the rate of recorded cases that researchers said reflects better childhood screening.
Kennedy publicly countered the agency’s screening conclusion and has challenged research showing a genetic link to the condition.
He told reporters Wednesday, a day after the new figures came out, that he believes “environmental toxins” in food and medicine are causing the spike.
“This is a preventable disease. We know it’s an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics. It can provide a vulnerability. You need an environmental toxin,” Kennedy said at a news conference at HHS.
The Health chief has faced backlash after he also claimed during the event that “autism destroys families.”
“These are kids who will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date,” Kennedy said. “Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted. And we have to recognize we are doing this to our children.”
An HHS spokesperson told The Hill in an email about the criticism that Kennedy wants “people with autism have access to meaningful opportunities, appropriate supports and the full respect and recognition they deserve.”
“His statements emphasized the need for increased research into environmental factors contributing to the rise in autism diagnoses, not to stigmatize individuals with autism or their families,” the spokesperson said.
