Senator Bill Cassidy, R-La., has criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for language on its website that he states could foster vaccine hesitancy among parents. Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Cassidy highlighted the CDC's "Autism and Vaccines" page, which includes statements such as "studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism" and "Scientists have not identified the root causes of autism."
Cassidy, an advocate for vaccination, expressed concern that such statements on the official CDC website could create doubt for parents making decisions about vaccinating their children. "It’s been firmly established vaccines do not cause autism. That’s over decades," Cassidy stated. "The fact that [those statements are] still there is almost an insult to the American people."
He urged parents to vaccinate their children, particularly for diseases like measles, emphasizing the severe consequences of not doing so. "Children have died from not having been vaccinated. Children have been in the hospital, they’ve been sick by the thousands," he said.
Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, has a history of diverging from his party and President Donald Trump. He was one of seven Republicans who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. Despite past disagreements, Cassidy recently cast a deciding vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination for health secretary, although Kennedy has been a prominent vaccine skeptic. Last week, Cassidy also stated his support for Trump's nominee for CDC director, Erica Schwartz, expressing confidence in her ability to counter misinformation.