Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has emboldened plenty of charlatans since taking over as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Now, the Food and Drug Administration under his leadership has taken down a webpage warning the public about popular pseudoscientific remedies for autism.
Ars Technica reported on the removal Tuesday, though it appears to have occurred in late December. The webpage criticized a variety of unapproved interventions claimed to treat autism, particularly chelation therapy. Kennedy has previously stated his intention to expand Americans’ access to unproven, alternative medical treatments, including chelation.
“Life-threatening outcomes”
Chelation therapy is the use of drugs that bind to heavy metals in the body, allowing them to be excreted through urine. It’s an effective treatment for certain kinds of acute poisoning or toxic exposures. But in the alt med world, chelation is instead marketed as a potent cure-all for removing toxins that supposedly cause a variety of chronic illnesses, autism included.
The FDA webpage (an archived copy can be seen here) was labeled a consumer update and titled “Be Aware of Potentially Dangerous Products and Therapies that Claim to Treat Autism.” It rightly noted the lack of evidence supporting chelation therapy as an autism treatment and the dangerous side effects that can come with using it improperly. People have gotten hurt or even died after taking chelation for autism and other unapproved uses.
“Chelating important minerals needed by the body can lead to serious and life-threatening outcomes,” the page previously stated. It also tackled other purported autism cures and treatments, such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy, detoxifying clay baths, and bleaching agents like “Miracle Mineral Solution.”
The RFK Jr. bump
HHS has denied any nefarious intent behind the FDA’s removal of the page. In a statement to Ars Technica, a representative claimed the webpage was retired as part of a “routine cleanup” of older pages from the FDA’s website; the agency also pointed the outlet to an active page on fraudulent treatments for various health conditions.
The autism section of that page is threadbare, however, listing no specific treatments that should be avoided. Another FDA webpage criticizing unapproved chelation therapy in general remains active as well; it briefly discusses its improper use for autism. But this page was last updated in 2016, whereas the pulled autism and chelation page was last updated in 2019. That raises the question of why the FDA removed the more current public warning but left the older page intact.
It’s worth noting that RFK Jr. has already personally pushed for the editing of public materials disseminated by health agencies under HHS to suit his ideological agenda. Last November, Kennedy directed the CDC to drastically change its webpage concerning vaccines and autism. The page now claims the federal government hasn’t done enough to rule out a link between vaccines and autism—a connection that’s been debunked by dozens of studies, but one RFK Jr. has supported for decades.
Last May, during an interview on the Ultimate Human Podcast hosted by Gary Brecka, RFK Jr. stated that HHS would make it easier for Americans to get their hands on treatments not currently approved by health regulators; he also specifically name-checked chelation therapy as one of these alternative treatments. Notably, Kennedy and many of his allies in the “Make America Healthy Again” movement have previously profited or are currently profiting from selling products popular in alternative medicine and wellness circles.
Amazingly, Kennedy even acknowledged during the interview that expanding people’s access to unproven remedies like chelation would have harmful consequences. “And of course you’re going to get a lot of charlatans, and you’re going to get people who have bad results,” he said at one point. “And ultimately, you can’t prevent that either way. Leaving the whole thing in the hands of pharma is not working for us.”
The wolves, it appears, have fully taken over the henhouse.
