NEW YORK (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. personally directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update its website to contradict its longtime guidance that vaccines don’t cause autism, he told The New York Times in an interview published Friday.

His comments provide clarity into who directed the CDC’s website change, after many current and former staffers at the agency were surprised to see new published guidance on Wednesday that defies scientific consensus. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, has upended the public health agencies he oversees and pushed for and enacted changes that have unsettled much of the medical community, which sees his policies as harmful for Americans.

“The whole thing about ‘vaccines have been tested and there’s been this determination made,’ is just a lie,” Kennedy said in the interview, which was conducted Thursday.

The CDC’s “vaccine safety” page now claims that the statement “vaccines do not cause autism” is not based on evidence because it doesn’t rule out the possibility that infant vaccines are linked to the disorder. The page also has been updated to suggest that health officials have ignored studies showing a potential link.

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      7 hours ago

      Unless he commits a crime, RFK serves as long as Trump is in office and wants him there.

      Trump won’t be removed in the midterms. He’s in until 2028 (well, early 2029).

      You might — probably will — get Democrats taking the House and being able to launch investigations into some Trump administration stuff after the midterms. But they can’t remove RFK.

      • vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
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        59 seconds ago

        Technically there are no legal ways to remove him. Plenty of ways he could be removed via illegal means, or through him being stupid wouldn’t put it passed him eating roadkill and dieing of the black death.