US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has sparked fresh controversy by calling autism a “preventable disease,” contradicting decades of medical research. While Kennedy insists that environmental toxins may be behind the rise in autism cases, experts maintain that autism is a complex neurological condition with no single known cause — and certainly not a disease that can be “prevented.”
He also said to launch thorough studies to find out if environmental factors are playing a role.
Rising autism cases in US
His statement came a day after the CDC reported that about 1 in 31 children in the US have autism, up significantly since 2020.
“This is a preventable disease. We know it’s environmental exposure — it has to be,” said Kennedy. “Genes do not cause epidemics; they can provide a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin,” he added.
“Autism destroys families,” Kennedy said. “More importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children. These are children who should not be suffering like this.”
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