RFK Jr.’s Picks for a Key Autism Panel Include Advocates for Bizarre Theories

Among those Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently named to a federal autism committee are people who tout dangerous treatments and say vaccine manufacturers are “poisoning children.”

US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has filled an autism committee with friends, associates, and former colleagues who believe that autism is caused by vaccines. Autism advocates are now worried the group could pave the way for dangerous pseudoscientific treatments going mainstream.

Last week, Kennedy announced an entirely new line-up for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC), a group that recommends what types of autism research the government should fund and provides guidance on the services the autism community requires. The group is typically composed of experts in the area of autism research, along with policy experts and autistic people advocating for their own community.

In a statement announcing the new panel, which includes no previous members, Kennedy claimed that he has appointed ...