Misinformation

For almost three decades, the idea that childhood vaccines cause autism has lingered in the public imagination. It began with a single flawed study and evolved into a full cultural debate that has touched parents, policymakers, scientists, and online communities alike. For parents, the worry is not simply academic. When a child shows delays in …

When a high-ranking government official announces a sweeping health initiative, the public usually leans in with cautious optimism. But when that official is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a figure long steeped in controversy—and the plan involves building a national autism registry using private medical data, eyebrows naturally go up. Touted as a groundbreaking effort to uncover …