Kennedy Jr. announced the government’s new autism findings this month, he painted a grim and highly controversial picture: Not only was autism becoming more prevalent, he said, but “most cases now are severe.

In announcing new autism prevalence data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. distorted scientific research to argue that there is an “epidemic” of autism that must be due to an "environmental toxin.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push to collect troves of personal medical data to find the cause of autism has researchers and patient advocates questioning whether his plan to cast a wide net makes it easier to pick and choose information that supports certain theories — including the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.