When Unreasonable Intuition Takes The Initiative

"We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involved hundreds of scientists from around the world."

"By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."

"Our food system, our water, our air, different ways of parenting, all the kind of changes that may have triggered this epidemic."

"We are going to look at vaccines, but we are going to look at everything. Everything is on the table."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services 

 

"It would be a great disservice to our families if, despite plentiful and robust evidence to the contrary, the administration announces vaccines cause autism, declares the case closed and stops funding critically needed autism research that is providing valuable information about the true causes." 

Alison Singer, president, Autism Science Foundation 

"There's got to be something artificial out there that's doing this."

"If you can come up with that answer where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it's a shot, but something is causing it."

U.S. President Donald Trump

A former top federal vaccine official spoke on the danger of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. giving “false hope” to people as the Health and Human Services secretary recently promised to identify the “cause” of autism by September.  Rolling Stone

 

Autism is a complex human condition, a spectrum of disorders inhibiting language and communication, affecting behaviour, that has been studied by scientists for decades. Autism, it is generally held, is caused by genetics and environmental factors even prior to birth; parents for example, conceiving children past reproduction prime; exposure to chemicals during pregnancy -- each contributing to the condition.  Crucial questions abound without answers. Which genes are involved, and how environmental exposure can influence the condition.

 

The Autism Society's response to the stated certainty of these deep scientific biological mysteries suddenly being revealed in several months' time is as skeptical as the premise deserves to be regarded: "We are deeply concerned by the lack of transparency around this effort -- who is leading it, what methods are being used and whether it will meet established scientific standards", stated Christopher Banks, president and chief executive of the organization. 

What do the experts, the scientific community, the parents of children with autism, and the specialized charitable organizations formed to represent their interests know, after all? Surely all it takes is an individual with an ingrained sense of entitlement and a belief in his own intuition fortified by theories outside the scientific realm of medicine, fuelled by suspicion of vaccines meant to save lives which a segment of the population prefers to believe threatens lives -- to arrive at an answer.

 

One that might conclude with a public announcement that repeats that old hyperbolic message of smug "I told  you so!" It is an investigative query of a conclusion searching for validation. Even health officials nominated by Donald Trump as advisers note that the deadline for conclusive resolution of the mystery is overblown rhetoric in which there can be little confidence. The reference of September is a reflection of the research process reaching finalization, and certainly not the analysis and conclusion finalization. 

A multi-million-dollar research program meant to examine the spike in autism diagnoses is underway but yet still in its early stages under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health. Over $300 million has been spent annually in the funding of autism research. Studies examining the roles of genetics and environmental influences have been factored into the study along with the manner in which the condition is diagnosed.

 

Given Mr. Kennedy's previous statements certifying his belief in the role of vaccines in producing autism, and other health theories he subscribes to beyond the pale of real science, medical researchers have sound reason to be concerned that the statements by this man have the purpose of legitimizing the debunked claims of vaccines causing autism, reflecting Mr. Kennedy 'sstanding by the claims for years past.

 

In his confirmation hearings for the post of Secretary of Health, he would not disavow those claims. Worse, under his leadership, David Geier, a discredited researcher and robust proponent of a connection between autism and immunization was hired to conduct a government study on their purported connection. Mr. Kennedy latterly gave short shrift to research that denies a causal link.  

 President Trump is right behind his Secretary of Health, fully in support of his intuitive theory, urging Kennedy and his research team to investigate autism's causes. The mass layoffs under this administration at the Centers of Disease Control which will have a deleterious impact on health research for the nation, did not extend to the autism program at the gutted agency.

 

"It's like saying 'by September we are going to know the cause of cancer'."

"Autism is every bit as complicated as cancer, and that's how it needs to be addressed."

Peter Hotez, pediatrician, author, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism

"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."

"There’s no scientific evidence ruling out genetics [as a cause of autism]."

"There is data that had been published that say that genetics may contribute to autism. There are, obviously, data that… suggest that perhaps environmental factors may. But one has to be incredibly careful, incredibly careful about making associations between environmental factors and autism."

"Autism is an incredibly complicated issue. So, we have the issue of diagnosis bias. We don’t know how many of those cases are true, how much of this is true growth of autism, how much of this is just that we now have diagnostic criteria and we diagnose it more often."

Dr. Peter Marks, former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research

The CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta, Ga, USA. Photograph: MIguel Martinez/AP