US Health department will analyze data from autistic Medicare, Medicaid enrollees, RFK Jr. says

By AMANDA SEITZ WASHINGTON AP Vitality Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr released a plan Wednesday to use biological evidence and records from people on Medicaid and Medicare to help investigation autism although experts say it s unlikely to help reveal the condition s root causes Related Articles Federal Reserve leaves key rate unchanged flags a exposure of higher prices and unemployment FAA fixing problems at Newark airport while planning overhaul of US air traffic control system th US state now facing a measles outbreak Here s what to know In a broken mental physical condition system a tiny jail cell becomes an institution of last resort Longtime Santa Cruz County resident and green card holder issued from ICE custody The initiative will involve a details sharing agreement between the National Institutes of Wellbeing the governing body s robustness research arm and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services which has access to states details from nearly million Americans across the country We re using this partnership to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases Kennedy announced in a declaration The agreement will be consistent with applicable privacy laws to protect Americans sensitive strength information the HHS declaration mentioned The soundness department did not respond to additional questions about the effort Using the information the agency reported researchers will focus on autism identification trends medical outcomes from therapeutic or behavioral outcomes access to care based on demographics and geography as well the economic burden of autism on families and physical condition care systems The difficulty is that this isn t the kind of statistics needed to answer questions about autism s causes mentioned Helen Tager-Flusberg professor emerita at Boston University who leads a new Coalition of Autism Scientists pushing back on Kennedy s characterizations of the condition Enough research has been done at this point to know there is no simple magic bullet she declared cautioning that this type of dataset won t help with the type of research greater part needed into genetics and other prenatal preconception and early infancy factors Kennedy has directed the fitness department to undertake a far-reaching research effort to identify the causes of autism a complex disorder that impacts the brain Announcing his plans last month Kennedy noted he plans to provide answers as to what causes autism by September He has since revealed the department will determine at least specific of the causes His research directive comes as autism rates in the U S are rising with the Centers for Infection Control and Prevention releasing a account that an estimated in U S children have autism a marked increase from Scientists and researchers who review autism have commented that increase in diagnoses is the aftermath of increased awareness about the disorder especially among people who exhibit milder clues of autism Kennedy has rejected that explanation in community appearances instead describing autism as a preventable affection that is caused by environmental factors Autism is not considered a infection but a complex brain disorder Those who have spent decades researching autism have unveiled no single cause although genetic factors are associated with it In addition to genetics scientists have identified various achievable factors including the age of a child s father the mother s weight and whether she had diabetes or was exposed to certain chemicals Kennedy s comments have sparked alarm among autism researchers who fear he will use the review to patronage a discredited theory that vaccines cause autism Kennedy a longtime vaccine critic has pushed that theory before although decades of research has uncovered no link between vaccines and autism President Donald Trump has also suggested that vaccines could be to blame for autism rates The new platform that HHS plans to launch around autism will be a pilot that will be used to scrutiny chronic conditions and treatments the agency mentioned Associated Press writer Lauran Neergaard contributed reporting