Quick Take
Federal health officials are reshaping long-settled science by suggesting that vaccines may cause autism — a claim contradicted by decades of large, peer-reviewed studies, writes retired Santa Cruz physician Jeoffry B. Gordon. The CDC’s newly revised vaccine-autism language, pushed by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., bypassed scientific staff and public review, sowing fear and confusion. Gordon warns that reframing settled science as “bias” undermines trust, weakens community protection and leaves families more vulnerable to preventable disease. He takes solace in a recent California effort to provide fact-based guidance. He urges families to rely on approved vaccines heading into 2026.
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As 2025 draws to a close, we are living in an alternate medical reality, reinforced and promoted by a new crop of federal officials who are claiming to “Make America Healthy Again.”
Like the little man behind the curtain in “The Wizard of Oz” – or the newly released “Wicked” – they are projecting power, authority and advice which is an illusion.
It almost feels like George Orwell’s “1984,” in which bureaucrats try to convince us that what we know is false is true.
Our current health officials are turning four centuries of the scientific method on its head by calling expertise “bias,” and trying to make us believe proven science applications (like vaccines) don’t save lives. They are also turning us inward, pushing us to focus on ourselves and our own families and ignore risks to neighbors and vulnerable community members. They want us to swallow the idea that what we believe and eat will somehow protect us from dread infections.
The result is widespread skepticism, doubt, worries, hesitancy, uncertainty and, often, a false sense of security.
Unfortunately, the real world of Mother Nature, infectious agents, health risks and tragedy has an independent dynamic which wisdom can moderate, but not ignore. You and your loved ones are being left less secure and deprived of the benefits of medical knowledge by this degradation of federal policy.
A recent worrisome example is the newly revised official Centers for Disease Control webpage on vaccines and autism, which declares, “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.”
This turns the scientific method on its head. “Science” is a method of trying to demonstrate causes. To devote inquiry into “ruling out” causes is a never-ending logical loop that will always be incomplete. Should we study whether peanut butter or Pepsi as well as vaccines cause autism?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the current Secretary of Health and Human Services, has reported that he revised the CDC guidance to promote his concerns about the relation of autism and vaccines without consulting with any of the scientific staff of the CDC, without any transparent public inquiry, and without any new scientific evidence to demonstrate that vaccinations may cause autism.
He wants you to worry. His advice will leave your family more at risk.
In fact, of all the possible causative factors in the world, the strongest and most robust scientific evidence that exists proves that vaccination does not cause autism.
A landmark study done in Denmark between 1991 and 1998 and reported in the New England Journal of Medicine included 537,303 children. Almost 82% of the children received the MMR measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine. The risk of autism in the group of vaccinated children was the same as that in unvaccinated children. Furthermore, there was no association between the age at the time of vaccination, the time since vaccination or the date of vaccination and the development of autism.
Knowing the tangled history here is important. In the marketplace of ideas, bold, simple answers are often impressive irrespective of their validity.
The flawed theory of autism
The theory that childhood immunizations cause autism gained momentum in 1998, after a British doctor, Andrew Wakefield, published a small study asserting that the MMR vaccine was linked to autism. That paper contained fabrications and distortions. It was composed of selected case studies, distorted clinical information and undeclared financial conflicts, and was retracted. It was so unethical that Wakefield lost his British medical license.
Although it was false and retracted, the study gained traction and caused real harm. It got picked up by worried families anxious for something to blame their child’s autism on.
Parents started avoiding MMR vaccinations, producing an estimated 5,000 preventable measles cases in Great Britain and one death. Numerous later studies — including a 10-year study of 600,000 children — have found no association between MMR and autism. A 2018 study that followed 82,000 pregnant women who were given the tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis (DPT) vaccine found their babies were not at increased risk for autism.
Indeed, autism remains mysterious, but one thing is certain: Uncertainty and lack of scientific understanding of causes add to the concerns, confusion and anxiety every family that includes a “neurodivergent” child experiences.
Sadly, we live in a culture that leaves each family alone when their beautiful baby starts to lag in growth and development. Where to turn? What to do?
The first answer is often a pediatrician. But, because we live in a country with a commercial model of medical care, finding an available, caring pediatrician, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant is not always easy. Finding one with expertise in neurodivergence can be even harder. Particularly in a small community like Santa Cruz.
Delays in development are often first noticed by a pediatrician during a well-child checkup. You must remember that health care for about 50% of all Californian kids is “insured” or tax-funded by MediCal, which is politically disparaged, underfunded and characterized by low payment to providers. (And Congress just enacted a law to shrink Medicaid even further.)
So our society builds barriers for the many concerned, caring, savvy parents who are poor. What to do?
Thankfully, in addition to medical resources, because of the extraordinary success of disability advocates, there is often excellent rehabilitation support outside the medical system. Every public school system must mainstream “disabled” children and provide an individualized education program (IEP) for them. This resource, although expensive, has proved successful in providing therapy and assistance in physical, cognitive, coping and social skills for children with disabilities, including autism. (Funding for disability services is also currently under attack.)
And, although having a child with autism in your life can be challenging, it is also incredibly rewarding. As we have gotten better at detecting autism, many neurodivergent children do perfectly fine without intensive interventions,
Obviously, every family with a neurodivergent child wants to know what caused this condition. At this point in time, there are no clear, scientific answers. It is evident that autism is in part genetic, and even then there are likely hundreds of genes involved in autism, as well as many unidentified environmental factors.
Also, autism or “neurodivergence” is a mixture of conditions, meaning there is not likely only one kind of autism. There is not even a definitive list of possibilities, as research continues. Nonetheless, we all crave answers and the opportunity to intervene for prevention.
It is important, as we face the future, to recognize that guidance from federal agencies can no longer be considered reliable. It is important not to be sucked into fabricated or selective data or concocted controversies.
In California, we are lucky. Our state health department (CDPH) began a partnership in September with the public health school at UC San Francisco called Public Health for All Californians Together (PHACT). California has joined 14 other states in the Governors Public Health Alliance to produce reliable information about vaccines and their risks and benefits. Hopefully, reality-based, scientifically studied guidance on other issues will follow.
Before the Trump administration changed all the language, the CDC used to cite vaccines as one of the 10 great public health achievements of the 20th century, and immunization is widely considered one of the greatest success stories of public health. Last year, The Lancet estimated that since 1974, when the World Health Organization launched its global vaccination program, vaccines had averted 154 million deaths worldwide, including those of 146 million children younger than 5.
It is important to listen to responsible agencies and clinicians. It remains extremely safe for your family to receive all evidence-based immunizations – as recommended by the California Department of Public Health.
It is more important than ever to seek reliable sources of health information and not to be captivated by bold but unsupported claims. Prepare for the new year by making certain your children and all family members are up to date with all immunizations, and you will protect your family and the rest of our community.
That is the best way to ensure a healthy 2026.
Dr. Jeoffry B. Gordon had a family medicine practice in Santa Cruz for 35 years until his retirement 17 years ago. He spent four years in a federally qualified health center treating the unhoused. He is currently a member of the California Citizens Review Panel for Critical Incidents (fatalities due to child abuse). He served as a medical bioethics consultant at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego for 10 years. He spent eight years on the Medical Board of California, which licenses and disciplines physicians. Gordon lives in Santa Cruz and is a widower with two daughters and four grandchildren.