NBC Newyes
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) page that previously stated unequivocally that vaccines do not cause autism has rewritten this information and now suggests, without evidence, that health authorities “ignored” possible links between vaccines and autism.
“Saying that ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based statement because studies have not ruled out the possibility that childhood vaccines cause autism,” states the new text on the CDC page. The text was changed Wednesday and first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
(What’s behind the popular job of RBT, autism therapists who charge up to $35/hr)
The website also notes that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has launched “a comprehensive evaluation” to examine the causes of autism. It is not clear what this evaluation will consist of or how it will be carried out.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the website had been updated “to reflect high-standard, evidence-based science.” The agency did not immediately respond to a question to support these claims.
Pediatricians and vaccine experts have long said that autism is one of the most studied childhood conditions, and that no credible research has ever suggested a link between this condition and vaccines.
It was not immediately clear who made the changes to the CDC’s language on autism and vaccines or where they got the new information.
The Autism Science Foundation said it was “horrified” by the change in language, calling it anti-vaccine rhetoric and calling it “outright lies about vaccines and autism.”
“The CDC has always been a trusted source of scientifically-backed information, but that appears to no longer be the case,” said Alison Singer, president of the foundation.
(Her son with autism broke his front teeth at school, but never knew how. Now he demands cameras in classrooms.)
“Spreading this misinformation will create unnecessary fear in parents of young children who may not be aware of the enormous amount of data linking vaccines as a cause of autism and may refuse vaccines in response to this misinformation, putting their children at risk of contracting or possibly dying from diseases that vaccines prevent,” Singer added.
The change in language was not reflected on the entire CDC website until Thursday. For example, a page aimed at parents today continued to claim that “scientific studies and reviews continue to show that there is no relationship between vaccines and autism.”
