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 number of posts discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion.
Another leading anti-vaxxer is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Rolling Stone and Salon retracted an RFK article linking vaccines to autism. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen." He helped cause a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa.
Today, in a cabinet meeting, U.S. secretary of health and human services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., claimed that there is a link between autism and circumcision. “There’s two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol,” he stated, without citing the studies.
Kennedy was probably referring to a 2013 study of eight countries and a 2015 study from Denmark, both of which claimed to show a link between circumcision and autism rates. Helen Tager-Flusberg, an autism researcher and a professor emerita at Boston University, calls the methods used in those studies “appalling.” Tager-Flusberg leads the Coalition of Autism Scientists, a group that advocates for high-quality autism research.
Neither study shows a causal link between circumcision—or the pain relief medications that are often prescribed along with the procedure—and higher rates of autism. In the decade-plus since each was published, autism researchers have heavily criticized these studies. And after reviewing both studies, scientists last year found no evidence supporting the claim that circumcision leads to autism or any other adverse psychological effects.
There is also very little evidence that giving acetaminophen (sold under the brand name Tylenol) to babies or children increases their risk of being diagnosed with autism. There is also very little evidence, as the secretary of health and human services recently suggested, that acetaminophen taken during pregnancy increases a baby’s risk of developing autism.
As for the circumcision theory, the most widely cited paper, published by Danish researchers in 2015, was "riddled with flaws" that were pointed out by other scientists at the time, David Mandell, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine, told AFP.
Specifically, he said, the study relied on a tiny sample of Muslim boys circumcised in hospitals rather than at home -- the dominant cultural practice.
Because those children were hospitalized, Mandell said, it was likely they were "otherwise medically compromised," which could explain higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders.
