STAT+: Vaccines take center stage at federal autism advisory committee

Vaccines took center stage at the federal autism advisory committee meeting Thursday, as committee members explicitly pointed to vaccines as a potential cause of autism, even though the link has been routinely debunked.

“We don’t want to close the door for any potential trigger, and that would include things like glutamate or aspirin, or a vaccination,” said Laura Cellini, the founder and CEO of Elucidate ASD, a nonprofit pushing for more medical treatments of autism. “We are quite open to investigating anything and everything. This plan closes no door.”

Vaccines are not mentioned in the committee’s new and already contentious strategic plan, which was the stated goal of discussion for the meeting. Multiple public members pointed to vaccines as possible culprits for their childrens’ “regression” into autism. None of the committee members challenged those statements — a sign that a new normal has been established on this committee, said Greg Robinson, director of public policy at the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.

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