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Kennedy Calls Autism Surge a Crisis, Urges Action From US Leaders

Kennedy Calls Autism Surge a Crisis, Urges Action From US Leaders
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington on April 16, 2025. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Louis Conte
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Commentary
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on April 16 that the rate of autism has dramatically increased and now stands at one in 31 for 8-year-old children, according to data in a new report produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. At his first news conference as secretary, Kennedy explained to the nation the reality and cost of profound autism.
Louis Conte
Louis Conte
Author
Louis Conte is the father of triplet boys, two with autism. He has written widely on the vaccine/autism controversy including a novel, “The Autism War;” co-authored a nonfiction book with Tony Lyons, “Vaccine Injuries: Actual Documented Adverse Reactions to Vaccines;” and co-authored a seminal article on the controversy, “Unanswered Questions From the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury,” which was published in the peer-reviewed Pace Environmental Law Review.