Overview

• At a Cabinet meeting, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said his team will announce next month which interventions are "almost certainly" causing autism and how the department will address them.
• President Donald Trump responded that there "has to be something artificially causing this," suggesting a drug or similar factor and urging swift disclosure.
• HHS data sheets reviewed by The Independent indicate roughly $6.9 million in autism-related grants were terminated or cut, even as some investigators disputed specific listings.
• Reporting also describes the elimination of NIOSH epidemiologist Erin McCanlies' division and the dismantling of her lab, which had examined parental chemical exposures and autism risk.
• Public health authorities, including the CDC, report no credible evidence linking vaccines to autism and attribute higher diagnosis rates largely to broadened criteria and improved detection.