Members of the autism community are pushing back against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s pledge to find the cause for autism by September, calling the plan harmful. Kennedy announced last week that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will launch a “massive testing and research effort” to

Kennedy, Hotez says, made a “false statement” in claiming that the scientific community denies that there are any environmental factors at play. “I’ve said to RFK Jr. that there could be an environmental component, but not vaccines, because autism occurs in fetal brain development well before kids ever see vaccines.”