Summary

RFK Jr. is using private medical records to create a registry of people with autism in the United States.

The National Institutes of Health is helping to collect private medical records from government and commercial databases, including “prescription records from pharmacies, lab testing, and genomics records from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service, private insurance claims, and data from smartwatches and fitness trackers.”

Kennedy, a longtime critic of vaccination, has made the study of autism one of HHS’s primary goals. He has called autism “preventable” and claimed “he can find a cure for the condition by September.”

  • turnip@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    He did run on finding the increased cause of autism in the youth. He said it was likely environmental toxins from corporations.

    So if hes right and hes not looking to murder people then we get statistics on where its occuring, and he would track it down like we did lead and things like that.

    Which there doesnt seem to be a counter-point to what hes doing, heres MSNBC who obviously hates Trump, and as she says theres not been clear answers yet. Which maybe with the data he is gathering there will be some insights:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0OxB7DzBGQ

    • Tryenjer@lemmy.world
      4·
      2 days ago

      He’s a cunt with half a brain, he’s the new Mengele. His delusions have already killed people, I don’t believe in his supposed good intentions.

      I believe it’s more likely that they (this administration, obviously) would change the meaning of the term “autistic” to mean any unwanted person. Basically, the Autist would become the new Jew under Trump’s regime.

      Autism has a genetic origin. Even with today’s gene therapy techniques, it would not be possible to alter the already formed brains of adults so that they would not be autistic.

      The simplest way to eliminate autism in the population would be to identify all autistic individuals and sterilize them or to genetically modify the zygotes or embryos of autistic individuals, but these, especially the first, have serious ethical implications and completely violate individual freedom. All this not to mention that we would be destroying part of the diversity of Humanity’s genotype, which could even have long term consequences that are difficult to predict.

      • turnip@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        I’d assumed it was something when you’re a fetus, not a fully formed brain. Would that be impossible as well do you figure?

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
      3·
      3 days ago

      Yes, well, there are good statistics and studies on autism and it’s mostly genetic. A bug of some of our far ancestors being related enough to have kids, but not enough to avoid weird bugs. Like - some of the neanderthals were not eaten. And parts of their genes were kinda compatible to those of bog standard homo sapiens sapiens, but not entirely. Which mostly doesn’t show in humans, and when it does, it’s autism. Or green eyes. Or something like that. Point being - really nothing to do with environment.

      BTW, RFK Jr really with his manner of speech seems like a high-functioning autistic person, give or take. I wonder if he knows that you don’t have to hide in a room all day and smell and have problems talking at all to be that. I also wonder if he knows that his survival\camping interests too match that a lot.