RFK Jr. Admits He Ordered CDC to Alter Vaccine–Autism Guidance, Sparking Trust Concerns

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has acknowledged that he personally instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to revise its longstanding guidance on vaccines and autism. Until the change, the CDC’s public guidance explicitly stated that vaccines do not cause autism.

The updated web entry now reads:

“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.”

That revised language departs from the agency’s previous, more definitive statement and has drawn sharp criticism from public-health professionals and former agency officials. Such guidance is typically developed and updated by agency scientists; it is highly unusual for a political appointee to direct a substantive change in scientific messaging.

Demetre Daskalakis, who formerly led the CDC center responsible for respiratory viruses and immunizations, said the edits undermine confidence in the agency as an independent scientific voice. Multiple current and former CDC staff described alarm and dismay after the change, with several employees saying the agency’s public messaging now reflects the health secretary’s personal views rather than the consensus of its scientists.

Kennedy is a well-known critic of vaccines and has promoted disputed claims about environmental and technological risks; critics say his intervention reflects those long-standing positions. Agency staff described the situation as highly disruptive to morale and to the CDC’s role as a trusted public-health authority.

Public-health experts warn that changes to factual guidance without clear, transparent scientific justification can erode public trust at a time when confidence in health institutions is critical. Observers say restoring that trust will require transparent explanations of the evidence and a return to science-driven processes for shaping official guidance.