Autism Dwarfs Covid Epidemic, Says US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr

US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has called autism a far worse epidemic than Covid-19. Speaking on 'The Cats Roundtable' radio show, Kennedy Jr argued the impact of autism on the country was devastating, particularly because it affected children from a young age.

"This is an epidemic. It dwarfs the Covid epidemic and the impacts on our country because Covid killed old people," he said. "Autism affects children and affects them at the beginning of their lives, the beginning of their productivity."

Kennedy Jr underscored one in every 31 Americans was now diagnosed with autism, warning the economic cost of the disorder could rise to $1 trillion annually by 2035. He also mentioned that about 26 per cent of individuals with autism may never live independently, and some may never reach their potential due to the early onset of the condition.

"We're taking kids that should be healthy, that should be contributing to society ... that should be ... reaching their potential ... and we're injuring them very early in life. It's an epidemic," he said.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains a condition with no single known cause, though both genetics and environmental factors are believed to play a role, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Last week, Kennedy Jr announced that his department would investigate several "environmental factors" that could contribute to the rise in autism diagnoses, including ultrasound scans, mould, pesticides, food chemicals, medicines, and contamination in air and water.

Kennedy Jr also accused the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the CDC of blocking studies on environmental causes of autism over the years. He pointed out that while genes contribute to autism, there was a need to examine environmental toxins, which is what his department would focus on in the coming studies.

Fifteen teams will be deployed to investigate various potential exposures, such as mould, food additives, pesticides, vaccines, and even plastic bottles, the added. "We're going to look at the age of the parents. We're going to look at everything that could contribute to it ... We're going to figure out what it is," Kennedy Jr said.

Kennedy Jr's views clash with the findings of a recent CDC study, which suggested that the increase in autism diagnoses is due to improved early detection methods and heightened awareness of the condition. According to the CDC, one in 31 children under the age of eight is diagnosed with autism, up from one in 54 in 2016 and one in 150 in 2000. 

The Autism Society of America also spoke against Kennedy Jr's statements, saying that the rise in diagnosis is "diagnostic progress" rather than an epidemic.

Kennedy Jr, who has long been criticised for his scepticism about vaccines, also suggested compensating families of those affected by severe autism. 

"More than 25 per cent of people who have severe autism will never go on a date, write a poem, live independently, or have a job," Kennedy Jr said in a Fox News interview last week. "We need to identify the exposures that are causing this epidemic and compensate the families of the injured."