Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned on Thursday he thinks his company’s forthcoming report on autism will reveal an “aggregation of causes” that result in the neurological dysfunction.
“This is a crisis,” Kennedy mentioned in a “Fox & Friends” interview on Fox Information Thursday. “There is not a single cause. There are many, many — there’s an aggregation of causes.”
“And we are now developing evidence, sufficient evidence, to ask for regulatory action on some of those, or at least recommendations,” he continued.
Kennedy, in April, vowed to seek out the trigger of rising charges of autism, calling it an “epidemic” that “dwarfs the COVID epidemic.”
On Tuesday, Kennedy mentioned his company is on observe to determine “interventions” that he mentioned are “certainly causing autism,” in addition to potential methods of addressing them by September.
Trump requested Kennedy for a progress replace throughout a Cupboard assembly Tuesday, saying, “The autism is such a tremendous horror show. What’s happening in our country and some other countries, but mostly our country. How are you doing?”
“We are doing very well,” Kennedy responded. “We will have announcements as promised in September, finding interventions, certain interventions, now that are clearly almost certainly causing autism. And we’re going to be able to address those in September.”
Kennedy has lengthy claimed that environmental elements, or vaccines, are doubtless culprits behind the rising fee of autism diagnoses, arguing analysis to again this up has been blocked by federal authorities.
Some well being consultants say the rising charges are extra doubtless a results of higher autism detection, for the reason that prognosis was first developed, and a broadening of standards lately. The primary time somebody was recognized with autism was in 1943.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) says 1 in 31 youngsters and 1 in 45 adults within the U.S. have autism, considerably greater than the 1 in 150 fee reported only a few a long time in the past.
Kennedy mentioned on Thursday he suspects the speed is even greater, noting California “has the best data collection system” and stories autism charges in youngsters of as much as 1 in 19, together with in some a part of the states, the place 1 in 12.5 boys have autism.
Kennedy is embroiled in a separate controversy over resignations on the CDC, the place the director was pushed out on Wednesday. Kennedy has defended the shakeup on the CDC.
