RFK Jr. Seeks Americans’ Medical Records to Study Vaccine-Autism Link
Health Secretary pursues unprecedented federal access to Americans’ medical records despite scientific consensus rejecting vaccine-autism connection.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pursuing federal government access to most Americans’ medical records to research a potential connection between vaccines and autism, despite decades of medical research that has rejected such a link.
The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking data from state systems that allow hospitals and clinics to exchange detailed, identifiable patient information, according to KFF Health News. The federal agency has not publicly announced any new projects involving medical records and autism or vaccine research.
Kennedy confirmed that medical records are central to his investigation plans. “We need a good health record system, and one of the things that really surprised me most when I came into office is that there is — that the systems are broken,” Kennedy said in a May interview. “We’ve had to go to the states and, luckily, we’ve got a lot of cooperation from the states, but we now have databases together that we can actually do the studies on. Those studies are in motion.”
Public Health Officials Raise Concerns
In private meetings, some public health leaders have objected to providing Kennedy’s team access to such data, questioning whether the request is legal and whether the information would be useful. Officials have expressed concerns about allowing the federal government to examine detailed Americans’ medical records, which could include doctors’ notes and prescription histories.
HHS has not provided information about how it plans to protect or handle the personal health information it seeks to obtain. The department’s approach represents a significant departure from traditional federal health data collection methods.
Nebraska Nonprofit Receives Federal Funding
Millions of dollars in grant money has flowed to a Nebraska nonprofit that has assisted Kennedy’s effort, according to state records. The funding demonstrates the scope of resources being dedicated to Kennedy’s medical records initiative.
Kennedy and his advisers have expressed frustration with limited federal access to Americans’ medical records in the past. The health secretary faced criticism last year when he proposed compiling medical records of people with autism to create a federal disease registry, which health department officials opposed.
The medical establishment has conducted extensive research on potential vaccine-autism connections over several decades and consistently found no evidence supporting such a link. Major health organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, maintain that vaccines are safe and do not cause autism.
Kennedy’s push for expanded medical record access reflects his longstanding skepticism of vaccines and his belief that chronic diseases, including autism, may be linked to immunizations. His efforts to obtain comprehensive health data represent one of the most significant initiatives undertaken by HHS under his leadership.
