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.
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.
