WASHINGTON (AP) — Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. introduced a plan Wednesday to make use of medical information and data from individuals on Medicaid and Medicare to assist examine autism though specialists say it’s unlikely to assist reveal the situation’s root causes.
This system will contain a knowledge sharing settlement between the Nationwide Institutes of Well being, the federal government’s well being analysis arm, and the Facilities for Medicare and Medicaid Providers, which has entry to claims information from practically 150 million People throughout the nation.
“We’re using this partnership to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases,” Kennedy stated in an announcement.
The settlement will probably be “consistent with applicable privacy laws to protect Americans’ sensitive health information,” the HHS assertion stated. The well being division didn’t reply to further questions on this system.
Utilizing the info, the company stated researchers will concentrate on autism analysis developments, well being outcomes from medical or behavioral outcomes, entry to care based mostly on demographics and geography as nicely the financial burden of autism on households and well being care methods.
The issue is that this isn’t the sort of information wanted to reply questions on autism’s causes, stated Helen Tager-Flusberg, professor emerita at Boston College who leads a brand new Coalition of Autism Scientists pushing again on Kennedy’s characterizations of the situation.
“Enough research has been done at this point to know there is no simple magic bullet,” she stated, cautioning that this sort of dataset received’t assist with the kind of analysis most wanted — into genetics and different prenatal, preconception and early infancy elements.
Kennedy has directed the well being division to undertake a far-reaching analysis effort to establish the causes of autism, a posh dysfunction that impacts the mind. Asserting his plans final month, Kennedy stated he plans to offer solutions as to what causes autism by September. He has since stated the division will decide at the least “some” of the causes.
His analysis directive comes as autism charges within the U.S. are rising, with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention releasing a report that an estimated 1 in 31 U.S. youngsters have autism, a marked enhance from 2020. Scientists and researchers who examine autism have stated that enhance in diagnoses is the results of elevated consciousness in regards to the dysfunction, particularly amongst individuals who exhibit milder signs of autism.
Kennedy has rejected that rationalization in public appearances, as an alternative describing autism as a “preventable disease” that’s attributable to environmental elements.
Autism shouldn’t be thought of a illness however a posh mind dysfunction. Those that have spent many years researching autism have discovered no single trigger, though genetic elements are related to it. Along with genetics, scientists have recognized varied potential elements, together with the age of a kid’s father, the mom’s weight and whether or not she had diabetes or was uncovered to sure chemical substances.
Kennedy’s feedback have sparked alarm amongst autism researchers, who worry he’ll use the examine to help a discredited principle that vaccines trigger autism. Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic has pushed that principle earlier than, though many years of analysis has discovered no hyperlink between vaccines and autism. President Donald Trump has additionally urged that vaccines could possibly be guilty for autism charges.
The brand new platform that HHS plans to launch round autism will probably be a “pilot,” that will probably be used to check power circumstances and coverings, the company stated.
Related Press author Lauran Neergaard contributed reporting.
Initially Revealed: Might 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM PDT
