CDC changes its autism-and-vaccines webpage, says the safety claim is not settled
Why it matters
For years the CDC's flat statement that vaccines do not cause autism anchored the mainstream position. The agency editing that page, while keeping the old header under an asterisk, is a concrete institutional shift, and the fight over the wording is itself the story.
On November 19, 2025, the CDC updated its autism-and-vaccines webpage to state that the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is not, in the agency's revised framing, an evidence-based conclusion. The updated text argues that studies have not ruled out a potential link and that earlier evidence was, in its telling, set aside.
The page still carries the header “Vaccines do not cause autism,” but now with an asterisk noting the header remains only because of an agreement between HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Senator Bill Cassidy. The result is a single page that simultaneously asserts and undercuts the traditional claim.
Mainstream medical organizations objected that the change misrepresents a large body of research showing no causal link. Both the old and new wording are preserved here so you can read the edit for yourself.
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