Robert "Blood on His Hands" Kennedy

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

As of last week, there were 1,748 measles cases in 2026, more than in all of 2024.

And now he claimed, "I have never been anti-vaccine."

Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg at NYT:

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday refused to commit to supporting the vaccine recommendations of President Trump’s nominee to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The nominee, Dr. Erica Schwartz, has publicly supported immunizations and drawn applause from mainstream public health leaders.

“If Dr. Schwartz is confirmed, will you commit on the record today to implement whatever vaccine guidance she issues without interference?” Representative Raul Ruiz, Democrat of California, asked Mr. Kennedy during a tense hearing on Capitol Hill, the secretary’s fourth congressional hearing since last Thursday.

“I’m not going to make that kind of commitment,” Mr. Kennedy replied. In response to other questions from Dr. Ruiz, a physician, Mr. Kennedy said that he approved of Dr. Schwartz’s nomination and had spoken to her multiple times, but had not spoken directly to Mr. Trump about her selection.

During the hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Mr. Kennedy pushed back on Democrats’ assertions that he bore some responsibility for the measles outbreak in the United States, the worst the country has experienced in decades. He told members of the panel that the outbreak is global, that it started before he took office and that those who were sick were mostly 5 or older, which meant their parents had decided against vaccination before he was in office.

The back-and-forth highlighted the challenges Mr. Kennedy faces in trying to sidestep the unpopular vaccine skepticism he has espoused in office, as the White House pressures him to focus on more popular topics, such as healthier eating and fighting fraud. By defending himself on his measles record and his failure to support a mainstream C.D.C. director, he gave congressional Democrats the fodder they were seeking.

“It’s real life, Mr. Secretary, and you have blood on your hands,” said Representative Marc Veasey, Democrat of Texas. He noted that Mr. Kennedy’s lengthy opening statement had made no mention of vaccines, “which is odd, because you’ve basically spent your entire career and life trying to shatter American trust in vaccines.”

Sterol Biosynthesis–Inhibiting Medications (SBIMs)

  In The Politics of Autism, I discuss various ideas about what causes the condition.  Dozens of potential causes and correlates have been the subject of scientific and medical research.

A release from the University of Nebraska Medical Center:

A landmark study led by researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and published in Molecular Psychiatry has identified a significant association between prenatal prescription of commonly utilized medications and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.

Analyzing 6.14 million maternal-child health records from the Epic Cosmos database—representing nearly one-third of all U.S. births between 2014 and 2023—the team found that prescription of medications known to inhibit the cholesterol synthesis pathway were consistently associated with higher rates of ASD in offspring.

While previous studies grouped medications by their indications, the UNMC team grouped prescribed medications together based on common effects and side effects on sterol biosynthesis.

These sterol biosynthesis–inhibiting medications (SBIMs) include certain antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, beta-blockers and statins. These are the generic names of the 14 medications studied: aripiprazole, atorvastatin, bupropion, buspirone, fluoxetine, haloperidol, metoprolol, nebivolol, pravastatin, propranolol, rosuvastatin, sertraline, simvastatin and trazodone. Many of these are among the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States, accounting for more than 400 million annual prescriptions.

... 

Publication details

Eric S. Peeples et al, Sterol pathway disruption in pregnancy: a link to autism, Molecular Psychiatry (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41380-026-03610-7 Journal information: Molecular Psychiatry

A partial list of other potential causes and correlates: 

1. Inflammatory bowel disease
2. Pesticides
3. Air pollution and proximity to freeways
4. Maternal thyroid issues
5. Autoimmune disorders
6. Induced labor
7. Preterm birth
8. Fever  
9. Birth by cesarean section;
10. Anesthesia during cesarean sections
11. Maternal and paternal obesity
12. Maternal diabetes
13. Maternal and paternal age
14. Grandparental age
15. Maternal post-traumatic stress disorder
16. Maternal anorexia
17. Smoking during pregnancy
18. Cannabis use during pregnancy
19. Antidepressant use during pregnancy
20. Polycystic ovary syndrome
21. Infant opioid withdrawal
22. Zinc deficiency
23. Sulfate deficiency
24. Processed foods
25. Maternal occupational exposure to solvents
26. Congenital heart disease
27. Insufficient placental allopregnanolone
28. Estrogen in the womb
29. Morning sickness;
30. Paternal family history
31. Parental preterm birth
32. Antiseizure meds
33. Location of forebears
34. Lithium
35. Aspartame
36. BPA
37. Brain inflammation
38. Maternal asthma
39. Infertility
40. Ultraprocessed foods
41. Household chemicals
42. Parental psychiatric disorders
43. Fluoride
44. Fatty acids in umbilical cord blood
45. Maternal inflammation during pregnancy
46. COVID-19
47. Wildfire smoke

 

Vaccination Green Shoots

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

As of last week, there were 1,748 measles cases in 2026, more than in all of 2024.

At Bloomberg, Jessica Nix reports that measles outbreaks have persuaded some antivax parents to have second thoughts.

The health department in South Carolina saw a nearly 170% increase in MMR immunizations at free clinics in January from the year prior and is close to declaring its outbreak over. MMR vaccines jumped 15% in Texas last year before the state declared its outbreak over in August. Utah’s health department also has recorded a bump in immunizations since last summer, a hopeful sign for the country’s most active current outbreak.

...

The backslide in childhood immunization rates accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, helping to create the conditions for measles to come raging back. Some people simply skipped vaccinations for their kids because the lockdowns halted routine pediatrician visits. But rates also dropped as anti-vax influencers peddling distrust of science and misinformation linking the MMR to autism swayed more parents to opt out of the shots.

Heather Simpson, 35, used to be one of those influencers. She turned against immunizations after she started “absorbing the wrong things” online, including interviews with Kennedy. Later, she struggled to get doctors to diagnose her daughter’s sleep apnea, solidifying her anti-medical establishment views.

The influencer part happened by accident in 2019 when she decided to post her own takes on vaccines in a Facebook group of like-minded moms. Almost instantly, thousands of followers offered her community, which she said was lacking in her life. They also amplified her posts, including one of her dressed as the measles for Halloween that made national news.

Her opinions started to diverge during the pandemic, however, when she found it tough to rail against what she considered common-sense measures to protect others, such as masking. She started to second-guess the authority of anti-vax leaders on other health issues, too. As she began opening up online in 2021 about her changing perspective, her support system crumbled.


“We lost real life friends,” Simpson said. She suffered from panic attacks, worried that maybe her old community was right on vaccines. Doctors who patiently walked her through concerns — instead of throwing data at her — helped affirm her decision to start catching up on immunizations for her daughter.

Her experience led her to help create Back to the Vax, a small online support group for anti-vaxxers who are slowly unlearning what many of them have been told their whole lives.

RFK Jr Refuses to Apologize

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

Yesterday, Kennedy testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Arthur Jones II at ABC:

Much of the nearly three-hour hearing seized on Kennedy's previous comments about autism that Democrats believe are harmful to the community.

Lucy McBath, D-Ga., asked Kennedy to apologize for saying that "autism destroys families" at a presser last year.

"I was talking about people with profound autism," Kennedy told McBath. "People ... who have lowering impact autism. I'm talking about people who are nonverbal, non-toilet trained, head banging."

"I find that very, very sad. It should be very easy for you to apologize if that's not, in fact, what you meant," McBath said.

"Those are crocodile tears, Congresswoman," Kennedy replied.

Kennedy had a rare exchange with a Republican lawmaker over largely unfounded claims about the link between Tylenol use among pregnant mothers and the increased risk of their unborn children being diagnosed with autism and other health disorders.

Virginia Foxx, R-N. Car., asked Kennedy about a recent study suggesting there's "no connection" between Tylenol usage in pregnancy and autism in babies.

"The study is a garbage study," Kennedy told Foxx. "It should be retracted."

The study analyzed 1.5 million children in Denmark and found no link between Tylenol during pregnancy and autism later in life.

Kennedy claimed the study needed to be retracted because it determined whether women took Tylenol during pregnancy by prescription, and Tylenol is a well-known over-the-counter medication.

1,748 Measles Cases

In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

From CDC:

As of April 16, 2026, 1,748 confirmed* measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026. Among these, 1,738 measles cases were reported by 33 jurisdictions: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A total of 10 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the United States.

There have been 19 new outbreaks** reported in 2026, and 94% of confirmed cases (1,637 of 1,748) are outbreak-associated (388 from outbreaks starting in 2026 and 1,249 from outbreaks that started in 2025).

  Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Dani Blum at NYT report on RFK Jr's appearances at hearings yesterday.

:When asked during his confirmation hearings if he could “assure mothers, unequivocally, that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?” he said he would do so only “if the data showed” that the assertion was true. The scientific consensus is that there is no link between the measles vaccine and autism. Appearing on Capitol Hill Thursday for the first of seven hearings on Mr. Trump’s budget, Mr. Kennedy sparred with members of two House committees on vaccines and Mr. Trump’s granting of clemency to a nursing home entrepreneur.

....

A recent poll by the nonpartisan Annenberg Public Policy Center found that fewer than 40 percent of Americans were very confident or somewhat confident that Mr. Kennedy is providing the public with “trustworthy” information. More than half of Americans felt that way about Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, whom Mr. Kennedy has criticized.

Mr. Kennedy’s stance on vaccines, and his effort to roll back longstanding vaccine policy, has become a sore point with the White House, which has made clear that it wants him to pivot away from talking about vaccines and stress more bipartisan issues, like healthy eating, ahead of November’s midterm elections.

...

Republicans mostly threw Mr. Kennedy softball questions about topics like ultraprocessed foods and other of the health secretary’s priorities.

But one Republican, Representative Blake Moore of Utah, who said he was the father of a 10-year-old neurodivergent son, told Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that he was “underwhelmed” with the Trump administration’s efforts on autism. He cited in particular Mr. Trump’s announcement in September — without any new evidence — that Tylenol might cause the disorder.

“My wife was hurt, and she felt for a split-second until we came to our senses and we talked about this, that there was any way she was responsible,” Mr. Moore said. “We don’t even know if she took Tylenol during her pregnancy, but that was a hurtful moment for her.” He urged the administration to do more to search for potential causes.

Consulting on TV Autism Representation

In The Politics of Autism, I discuss depictions of ASD in popular culture. 

Johanna Alonso at Inside Higher Ed:

It’s a little bright in here,” the doctor says, shutting off the lights in the examination room in a busy ER. She also takes the time to turn off a device that’s beeping and close the doors to the rest of the bustling emergency room. “Sorry—the, uh, ER can be kind of noisy.”

“I agree,” the patient replies.

That moment of understanding between a resident physician and a patient who was autistic, in HBO Max’s The Pitt, was originally conceived by Wendy Ross, a professor at Thomas Jefferson University and the director of Jefferson Health’s Center for Autism and Neurodiversity.

Ross served as a consultant on the first season of the show, giving input into a character the showrunners were planning—a female doctor with autism. Ross said she connected with the writers and producers on an hourlong Zoom call, during which she suggested a scene in which the doctor communicated with a patient who was autistic more effectively than another non-autistic doctor had.

She had one overarching tip about the character, Mel King, a spunky second-year resident played by actress Taylor Dearden: “Especially if it’s a woman, that they should make it really subtle” that she is autistic, Ross said. “A lot of women don’t even know. They should definitely not make her a savant.”

Indeed, the show doesn’t confirm whether Dr. King is autistic, but fans have noticed that she exhibits a lot of traits of autism, such as self-soothing, enjoying repetitive tasks and missing social cues; plus, her sister is autistic. (Dearden has said in interviews that she thinks of the character as having ADHD, like herself.)

Ross said she’s grateful she had the chance to shape an accurate autistic character in what has since become an incredibly popular TV show, winning five Emmy Awards for its first season. The show wraps up its second season tonight.

“Representations in TV and movies and media are very important because they reach more people than the news or other didactic information,” she said. “Explaining the nuances of demonstrating them in a story line is very powerful.”

Measles in California

  In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

In 2015, he came to California to spread his antvax lies and referred to autism as a "Holocaust."

Catherine Ho at the SF Chronicle:

A measles outbreak in the Sacramento region, the third and largest in California so far this year, has brought the state's year-to-date measles cases to 39 - far surpassing yearly totals for the last several years.

The ongoing outbreak in Sacramento and Placer counties, which began in late February and has grown to 17 cases - including four new cases over the past week - will likely continue another 21 days, the incubation period for measles, state health officials said Tuesday.

"With measles, this has been a significant year for us in that we are only a quarter of the way through the year and we already have 39 cases," Dr. Eric Sergienko, chief of the California Department of Public Health's communicable disease control division, said in a briefing with medical professionals.

California reported 25 measles cases in 2025, 15 in 2024, four in 2023, none in 2022 and 2021, and four in 2020, according to state data.

Of the 39 cases so far this year, 85% have been in people under age 20, and 95% have been in people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. People whose status is unknown are most likely unvaccinated.

The rise in measles in California coincides with a national resurgence of the vaccine-preventable disease. The United States in 2025 reported the highest number of measles cases in 30 years, mostly driven by large outbreaks in Texas and South Carolina. The U.S. declared measles eliminated in 2000, but is now at risk of losing that status.

 

Practical Value

The Politics of Autism explains that autism services can be complicated, creating difficulties for autistic people and their families.  Uncertainty another major theme of the  book.  In the concluding section, I write:

A key question in autism policy evaluation is simple to pose, hard to answer: How do autistic people benefit? How much better off are they as a result of government action? While there are studies of the short-term impact of various therapies, there is surprisingly little research about the long term, which is really what autistic people and their families care about. As we saw in chapter 4, few studies have focused on the educational attainment of autistic youths. For instance, we do not know much about what happens to them in high school, apart from the kinds of classes that they take. One study searched the autism literature from 1950 through 2011 and found just 13 rigorous peer reviewed studies evaluating psychosocial interventions for autistic adults. The effects of were largely positive, though the main finding of the review is that there is a need for further development and evaluation of treatments for adults.

Kevin D. Arnold at Psychology Today:

When your child is diagnosed with autism, and you begin an applied behavior analysis (ABA) program, a question quickly follows: How do I know this is actually working?

It is a reasonable question—and it turns out the field of applied behavior analysis answered it more than 50 years ago. In 1968, Donald Baer and his colleagues published the paper that defined what ABA is and what it requires. One sentence has stood as the standard ever since:

“If the application of behavioral techniques does not produce large enough effects for practical value, then the application has failed.” (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968)

...

If you take one thing from this post, let it be this: Ask your child’s BCBA to show you data from outside the clinic. Data that reflects how your child is doing in the situations that matter most to your family. If that data exists and shows meaningful progress, your program is working. If it doesn’t exist, you now know what to ask for.

Practical value. It has been the standard since 1968. You have every right to hold your program to it. Your child doesn’t have the time to waste on a program that doesn’t emphasize practical value

References

Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.

Family Caregivers

 The Politics of Autism, I discuss the day-to-day challenges facing autistic people and their families.

Paul Wynn at AARP:

An invisible workforce across the country dedicates their time, energy and spirit to their work, usually without pay. These are family caregivers, and their contribution to the U.S. economy exceeded $1 trillion in economic value in 2024, according to a new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute.​

The report, “Valuing the Invaluable 2026,” found that the 59 million family caregivers in the U.S., who are caring for adults, provided 49.5 billion hours of care, equaling work done by 23.8 million full-time workers, or about 17 percent of the nation’s full-time workers. The first report in the 20-year Valuing the Invaluable series — issued every two to four years — estimated the economic value of caregiving at $350 billion in unpaid care in 2006

From the report:

 Family caregivers provide essential support to adults with disabilities and complex medical conditions. Family caregivers handle daily tasks of living (such as toileting, dressing, preparing meals, and transportation), complex medical and nursing tasks, and coordination of medical and social services. Most long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the United States is provided by family caregivers,1 and nearly all of it is unpaid.2 

 1 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Families Caring for an Aging America (Washington, DC, The National Academies Press, 2016), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK396401/ 2 Of the 59 million caregivers of adults, only 2 million were paid for all of their care hours, and another 9 million were paid for some of the hours they provided. The total economic value of $1.01 trillion is for all care provided, whether or not it is paid. Source: Caregiving in the US 2025 (table 2, page 7) 

Autism Acceptance Month

 In The Politics of Autism, I write:

The most basic questions trigger angry arguments. For instance, into what category do we put autism in the first place? In 2013, President Obama said that “we’re still unable to cure diseases like Alzheimer's or autism or fully reverse the effects of a stroke.” The language of “disease” and “cure” offends some in the autism community. “We don’t view autism as a disease to be cured and we don’t think we need fixing,” says Ari Ne’eman of the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network. “We do feel comfortable with the word disability because we understand what it means.” From this perspective, autism is difference that requires accommodation, not an illness that requires eradication. Adherents of this position liken autism to homosexuality, which psychiatrists once deemed to be a  disorder. Conversely, some parents take offense at opposition to a cure. “Anyone with the mental and verbal ability to challenge autism research is not autistic on a scale that I care to recognize,” writes autism parent James Terminello. “Opposition to finding a cure is particularly hurtful to parents who still mourn the loss of the child that could have been. A line has been crossed.”

The Autism Society and many other organizations now observe Autism Acceptance Month, though not everyone agrees. 

Brooke Lordino at USC Annenberg:

After the Autism Society of America decided to change “Autism Awareness Month” to “Autism Acceptance Month” in 2021, the meaning of the initiative broadened to advocate — not just for more inclusion in society — but for acceptance within the autism community itself.

“It started out as autism awareness just because folks really were not familiar with autism,” said Andy Kopito, president of the Autism Society of Los Angeles, in an interview with Annenberg Media.

“Now we’re more focused on how they can better accept people who are on the spectrum and figure out how to work with them,” he said.

Kopito said he has two children with autism; a daughter who is mildly impacted and a son who is impacted to a higher degree. The biggest change he has noticed throughout his time as a parent has been improved public reaction and engagement with those on the spectrum.

“When he was younger, people used to look at him and ask ‘why isn’t he talking? Why is he making those sounds,’” Kopito said of his son. “Now when he’s out in the community, whether it’s going to the movies, or at the gym, people react in such a positive way and are so kind.”

Kopito continued, “the warmth that people show, it is showing that this whole idea of acceptance is working in our society and that gives me hope for the future that people with autism are going to be able to live their best lives out in the community.”

Public and community awareness has enabled people to feel less afraid to seek help and get diagnosed, according to a study done by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Boston City Council:

With a focus on understanding, inclusion, and community, the Council has officially adopted a resolution recognizing April as Autism Acceptance Month.

Offered by Councilors Durkan, Breadon, and Pepén, the resolution highlights the importance of moving beyond awareness toward genuine acceptance. Originally established as Autism Awareness Month in 1970, the observance was reframed in 2021 to emphasize inclusion and to celebrate the diverse experiences of people on the autism spectrum.

The Council’s recognition underscores that autism is not only a diagnosis, but also an identity, a community, and a lived experience. It also acknowledges the ongoing challenges faced by individuals with autism, including barriers in education, employment, housing, and other aspects of daily life.

The resolution points to the vital role of local organizations – such as Autism Speaks, the Aspire Program at Mass General Brigham, STRIVE Boston, and the Common Room – in advancing advocacy, support, and resources for the autism community.

By adopting this resolution, the Council affirms its commitment to equity and inclusion, honoring the contributions of individuals with autism and recognizing their impact across all areas of civic life.

LA County Fire Dept:

The County of Los Angeles Fire Department (LACoFD) recognizes and celebrates Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month and looks forward to the 5th annual Sirens of Silence community event, A Special Day with First Responders, on Sunday, May 3, 2026, in the City of Pomona.

In partnership with the San Gabriel/Pomona Regional Center (SG/PRC), this year’s event will welcome families who have loved ones with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as well as neurodivergent individuals to meet and engage with public safety partners, health agencies, and community partners – like the California Highway Patrol, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, Los Angeles County Department Aging and Disabilities, Pomona Police Department, Falck, and Western University of Health Sciences, to name a few.

Individuals of all ages will have the opportunity to see and interact with representatives from each of these wonderful agencies, as well as their apparatus/equipment and gear, in a sensory-friendly space. The entire community is welcome to attend. For additional information, click here.

The LACoFD’s award-winning Sirens of Silence program promotes ASD and neurodiversity, education, and inclusion through training and extensive free resources available on our website.

Removing Protections

In The Politics of Autism, I write:

The conventional wisdom is that any kind of treatment is likely to be less effective as the child gets older, so parents of autistic children usually believe that they are working against the clock. They will not be satisfied with the ambiguities surrounding ABA, nor will they want to wait for some future research finding that might slightly increase its effectiveness. They want results now. Because there are no scientifically-validated drugs for the core symptoms of autism, they look outside the boundaries of mainstream medicine and FDA approval. Studies have found that anywhere from 28 to 54 percent of autistic children receive “complementary and alternative medicine” (CAM), and these numbers probably understate CAM usage.

A lot of people in RFK Jr's MAHA orbit are making a lot of money from supplements. 

Bottema-Beutel, K. (2026). When Ableism Supplants Evidence: Federal Autism Guidance in the United States. Autism, 0(0).  https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261439928

The US government has also removed protections that were previously in place to prevent harm to autistic people. In February of 2026, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed a warning about disproven autism “remedies”, including chelation therapies, chlorine dioxide (i.e. bleach) treatments, raw camel milk, and hyperbaric oxygen therapies (O’Matz, 2026). In the 1990s, by Bernard Rimland, a US-based psychologist and parent of an autistic son, promoted therapies involving adjustment of the biological environment (including vitamin regimens and other, more invasive approaches such as chelation therapy and gluten/casein-free diets). Although these therapies had no or minimal research evidence, he convinced parents they were worth trying because any possibility for reducing autism “symptoms” meant the intervention was worth any potential harms, which he considered unlikely (Shattock, 2006). This of course was not true— primary harms to autistic children could and did happen with biogenic therapies, including death (Sinha et al., 2006). On a now defunct US FDA consumer updates webpage available via the Wayback Machine Internet Archive, the agency (under a previous administration) shared the potential harms of many of these therapies. For example, regarding bleach cures marketed as Miracle Mineral Solution (MMS) they stated, “FDA has received reports of consumers who say they experienced nausea, severe vomiting and life-threatening low blood pressure after drinking the MMS and citrus juice mixture” (United States Federal Drug Administration [USFDA], 2014). Secondary harms, such as wasted caregiver time and resources, and reduced motivation to access more efficacious interventions, are also likely when therapies without research support are promoted by people in positions of power. No reliable evidence of their effectiveness has ever been produced, and other international sources of guidance continue to warn families against these therapies (e.g. Raising Children Network, 2026).

1,714 Measles Cases

  In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread.    Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.  A top antivaxxer is HHS Secretary RFK Jr. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.

In early April, the US has already had more measles cases than in all of 2024.

From CDC:

As of April 9, 2026, 1,714 confirmed* measles cases were reported in the United States in 2026. Among these, 1,704 measles cases were reported by 33 jurisdictions: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A total of 10 measles cases were reported among international visitors to the United States.

There have been 17 new outbreaks** reported in 2026, and 94% of confirmed cases (1,609 of 1,714) are outbreak-associated (377 from outbreaks starting in 2026 and 1,232 from outbreaks that started in 2025).