The Trump administration on Tuesday released a 20-page “Make America Healthy Again” report that directs federal public health and environmental agencies to prioritize investigations into vaccine injuries, prescription drug use and the causes of autism.
The document, overseen by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recommends recasting the government’s approach to investigating vaccine injuries and expanding research into the roots of developmental disorders. Kennedy said the administration would "recast the entire program" for probing vaccine injuries and that reports of such injuries "will be welcomed and we will learn everything we can about them so we can improve the safety of these products." He added that doctors are not currently compensated for filing complaints about vaccine injuries.
The report, produced by a MAHA commission that included Kennedy and other cabinet members, outlines a set of policy priorities but stops short of detailing regulatory changes to achieve a broad overhaul of public health programs. It calls on the National Institutes of Health to link multiple datasets — including claims information, electronic health records and wearable device data — into a single integrated resource for researchers studying chronic disease and conditions such as autism.
Administration officials said Tuesday evening that President Donald Trump signed a memorandum instructing federal agencies to step up enforcement of pharmaceutical advertising across television, websites and social media. Officials on a call with reporters said the administration would send "hundreds" of letters to companies that have run misleading drug ads and would increase scrutiny of ads placed by social media influencers and telehealth firms.
The MAHA report addresses a range of issues beyond vaccines and autism, including consumption of ultraprocessed foods, water quality, fluoride and prescription drug use among children. It assigns substantial research responsibilities to the NIH even as the agency faces a proposed 40% reduction in funding in the administration’s budget blueprint.
Kennedy’s recommendations arrive amid controversy over his recent stewardship of parts of the federal public health apparatus. A bipartisan group of senators has expressed alarm about Kennedy’s actions at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which saw its hand-picked director abruptly fired and other top leaders resign in recent weeks amid disagreements over immunization recommendations. Senate hearings last week included sharply worded questions about Kennedy’s anti-vaccine statements and his leadership of the agencies.
The report’s release follows an earlier draft that leaked in August. Despite pledging "radical transparency," the MAHA commission did not hold a public meeting before publishing the final report, according to administration officials and outside observers.
Pediatric and public health experts criticized the report for lacking detail and for omitting other major drivers of child health. "It lacks details on how the Administration plans to address those issues and omits key drivers that harm children’s health, including gun violence and environmental hazards," Susan J. Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said in a statement. She added that cuts to federal health programs, including Medicaid, coupled with what she called Kennedy’s anti-vaccine rhetoric, could worsen health outcomes for children.
Kennedy has repeatedly pledged to identify the causes of autism, a complex developmental disorder, and told advisers he would release findings by September. The report calls for a major research push but does not identify specific investigators or a timeline for results. Scientists who have studied autism for decades say no single cause has been identified; research points to a combination of genetic factors and various environmental influences, including parental age, maternal health conditions and certain chemical exposures.
Administration officials cast the report as a blueprint to improve children's health and drug safety, and to increase oversight of emerging digital health data. Critics say the proposal risks undermining established public health practices and could amplify misinformation about vaccines unless accompanied by rigorous scientific safeguards and transparent methods.
The report places the NIH at the center of the proposed research agenda, while enforcement actions on pharmaceutical advertising are to be coordinated across the health department and the Department of Justice. How the recommendations will be implemented, funded or translated into regulatory changes remains unclear, and lawmakers and health groups have signaled they will continue to press for more information about the administration’s plans.