US CDC says claims that vaccines do not cause autism are not evidence-based

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Reuters

US CDC says claims that vaccines do not cause autism are not evidence-based

By Reuters
November 20, 2025 12:33 AM EST Updated 5 hours ago

Nov 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its website on Wednesday to say that claims about vaccines not causing autism are not "evidence-based."

Vaccine skeptic and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as U.S. President Donald Trump have promoted the theory - contrary to scientific evidence - that childhood vaccines are a cause of autism. But the CDC's website previously said "studies have shown there is no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder."

As of Wednesday night the agency's website 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." It added that health authorities have "ignored" studies supporting the link between the two.

The agency kept the header "Vaccines do not cause autism" on its web page, saying that it has not been removed due to an agreement with Senator Bill Cassidy, chairman of the U.S. Senate's Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

{snip}

Reporting by Rishabh Jaiswal in Bengaluru and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-cdc-says-claims-that-vaccines-do-not-cause-autism-are-not-evidence-based-2025-11-20/

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/11/20/cdc-vaccines-autism-website-change/

Under RFK Jr., CDC promotes false vaccines-autism link it once discredited

The CDC’s website now says health authorities ignored evidence of a potential connection between vaccines and autism, despite dozens of studies showing no link.

November 20, 2025 at 12:30 a.m. EST Today at 12:30 a.m. EST
5 min

A sign at the entrance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters in Atlanta. (Miguel Martinez/AP)

By Lena H. Sun
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has repudiated its past insistence that vaccines do not cause autism after decades of fighting misinformation linking the two, blindsiding career staff and delighting anti-vaccine activists.

{snip}

The comments express strong criticism and concern over the CDC's recent changes to their website regarding the vaccines-autism link. Many commenters highlight the influence of political pressure, particularly from the Trump administration and RFK Jr., in promoting pseudoscience...

[Walleye]

1. I don't trust a single word that comes out of this administration. Including And and The

[RockCreek]

2. When I was at the pharmacy picking up meds I have been on for years

I suddenly was given warnings about them by the pharmacist. My response, said nicely, was that I would be checking Canada's and the EU's recommendations, since the FDA is no longer using scientific evidence for recommendations. I also said that I know she had to bring this up as part of her job. It went nicely, and when she left the junior pharmacist said quietly that he agreed with me.
I've actually used other countries medical guidelines for many years to supplement and inform US guidelines. They have long had areas less influenced by corporate and political interests.

[AZJonnie]

3. Cassidy's statement probably should say something more like "There is no evidence vaccines cause autism"

Rather than state it outright that they "do not". So technically the recently added statement is not "wrong". But it's still bullshit. "100% ruling things out" is not often the goal of science, in fact.

[cab67]

4. There's going to have to be some serious detrumpification in the next administration.

[MLWR]

5. I don't take medical advice from lawyers

and I don't ask my physicians for legal advice.

[mwmisses4289]

7. The only "legal" advice i might ask my doctor about

is if they could recommend or know a lawyer if I needed one.

[Javaman]

6. doesn't matter, sadly...

Jr. let that horse out of the barn, burned the barn down and then salted the earth.

it's going to take a long time to gain the morons of our society's 'trust" again to get their kids and themselves vaccinated.

[tavernier]

27. Not that long.

Children are already getting sick and spreading disease. Once illness and death touch them personally, they will change their tune about getting vaccinated.

[barbtries]

8. CDC is useless.

Microbe.tv is the best source I've found for public health information.
Dr Offit has a substack https://pauloffit.substack.com/?r=33s8c&utm_campaign=subscribe-page-share-screen&utm_medium=web

Every week or 2 he discusses what's happening in infectious diseases and the propaganda and lies coming from rfk jr etc. on Microbe TV's youtube. I'm watching this currently.

?si=5ORPetJ3Ak6dNap4

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. C.D.C. Changes Website to Reflect Kennedy's Vaccine Skepticism

C.D.C. Changes Website to Reflect Kennedy’s Vaccine Skepticism

A previous version denied a link between vaccines and autism. It now echoes the doubts about that conclusion voiced by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.


The current C.D.C. webpage 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.” Melissa Golden for The New York Times

By John Yoon
https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-yoon
Nov. 20, 2025
Updated 8:05 a.m. ET

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website that previously said that vaccines do not cause autism walked back that statement, contradicting the agency’s previous efforts to fight misinformation about a connection between the two.

The agency’s webpage on vaccines and autism, updated on Wednesday, now repeats the skepticism that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has voiced about the safety of vaccines, though dozens of scientific studies have failed to find evidence of a link.

A previous version of the webpage said that studies had shown “no link between receiving vaccines and developing autism spectrum disorder.” It cited a 2012 National Academy of Medicine review of scientific papers and a C.D.C. study from 2013. ... On Thursday, the live version of the page stated: “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.”

The updated text also claimed that the health authorities have “ignored” studies supporting a link and said that the Department of Health and Human Services was conducting a “comprehensive assessment” of the causes of autism. ... Studies over the past three decades consistently have not found any connection between vaccines and autism, including one from 2019 in Denmark that examined the country’s entire child population over a decade.

{snip}

Apoorva Mandavilli contributed reporting.

John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/john-yoon

[twodogsbarking]

10. So the CDC employees will all be sent to a foreign country?

[IronLionZion]

11. They found a way to prove a negative? Double negative?

How about any evidence of vaccines causing autism? Also no?

It's disappointing to see that a generation of kids will be badly wounded or killed by preventable disease.

[GreenWave]

19. Exactly. The sentence is all "not"ted up.

[slightlv]

12. Rather hard to prove a negative...

Like when did you stop beating your wife?

There are critical thinking skills left.

[travelingthrulife]

13. OK, so get the retroactive data and get it published. We have millions of people who have received these

immunizations. Show the autism rates. Demonstrate cause and effect.

Oh wait. You can't? We didn't call it 'autism' in the past so that will really confound these fools.

[enigmania]

14. A special place in hell awaits RFK Jr. and ilk.

[Turbineguy]

15. In the Soviet Union there always political considerations.

Lets hope they don't decide to have RFKJr run nuclear power plants.

[IronLionZion]

20. Dude might jump in to swim in the radioactive waste

he'll claim it's great for health.

[samnsara]

16. i will only follow canadian health suggestions....

but i live in a state thats very anti trump so they arent going to give in to President Piggy's stoooopid claims.

[Scrivener7]

17. Oh, for fuck's sakes.

[BootinUp]

18. The Center for Conspiratorial Woo says what? Nt

[Scully]

21. I keep turning this over in my mind, and I don't understand....

... what benefit there is to making this ridiculous, utterly debunked claim.

Like- assume for a moment that RFK Jr isn't just an idiot (which is also a plausible explanation, but play along for a minute). If this isn't predicated by ignorance and idiocy, why is is being done? Who benefits? Where is the money going in making this claim? The power or clout? Making this claim will increase vaccine hesitancy, which will increase the likelihood of disease spread and mutation and death. Who is winning in that??

[BootinUp]

23. Some people just prefer woo. They give money too. Nt

[AZJonnie]

24. A cabal of wealthy people who want to massively depopulate the planet without admitting that this is their goal

Seems pretty obvious there must be such a group, from where I'm sitting

[WinstonSmith4740]

22. I've taught Autistic kids.

It wasn't my major in college because SPED programs didn't exist back then...it just seems I have a "touch" with SPED kids, or so I've been told by the specialists.

The way this shit show of a "presidency" approaches this is just infuriating to me. First of all, autism is not a disease. It doesn't have to be "cured". Why it happens is irrelevant, but real research points to a possible genetic connection. The "research" the MAGAts keep referring to has been debunked more times than I'm sure Dear Leader can count. If the numbers have been increasing over the years, it's because we're better at recognizing it today. Is it over diagnosed? Probably, but we understand that an autistic kid isn't just that kid who keeps to him or herself and never talks to anyone. We know the "spectrum" goes from that kid all the way through to genius. If you ever watched "The Big Bang Theory", Sheldon Cooper was undoubtedly supposed to be autistic at the high end...brilliant, but no social skills. (And he had a mean streak that I never saw in any of my kiddos.} It generally was called Asperger's Syndrome, but has now been folded into the general autism spectrum

Anyway, RFK Jr. is an idiot, as is this entire administration. What I can't figure out is why they are so hell bent on stigmatizing an entire segment of our population even more than they have been. And if they're not stopped, I can unfortunately see special "camps" for them in the future, along with a defining symbol they have to wear on their clothing.

Is it January 21, 2029 yet?

[Martin68]

25. Under Trump the CDC is no longer a scientific, evidence-based institution.

[John Coktosten]

26. Yarp

.....and cigarettes don't cause or lead to cancers. Just like leaded gasoline, benzene, and asbestos are totally safe as well. Let's add in formaldehyde, formalin, etc., etc., etc.

Let's all start injecting bleach and drinking gasoline! Yeah baby! Fuckin" 'Murica! Yee haw!

[AZ8theist]

28. NOTHING RFK jr says is evidence based.