06/08/2026
Keep RFK out of my records!
Parents want to know why autism is being diagnosed more often. That is understandable. RFK Jr. built his whole pitch on promising them an answer. First it was vaccines, then Tylenol (acetaminophen). Neither has been shown to cause autism.
And this isn't a gap in the research. Scientists have spent decades studying autism, and our understanding has grown substantially, spanning genetics, prenatal environment, and neurological development. The evidence has never supported a causal link between vaccines and autism.
The honest answer won't be satisfying: there probably isn't a single cause. Much of the increase is simply because we screen far more than we used to. The definition of autism has also broadened significantly over the years, meaning people who would not have qualified for a diagnosis a generation ago are now correctly identified. Older parental age has been associated with autism too, and people are having kids later than they used to. It's a combination of things, not a smoking gun.
Now his department wants access to millions of Americans' medical records to keep looking. This means detailed, identifiable patient data held by state hospital and clinic networks. Some public health leaders have questioned whether sharing that data with the federal government is even legal.
Wanting answers is fair, but reverse-engineering the one you already chose is not. And neither is reaching into everyone’s private medical records to go find it.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/04/health/medical-records-vaccines-autism