From PBS NewsHour.

The leader of the National Institutes of Health told a Senate committee Tuesday that he has not seen a study “that suggests any single vaccine causes autism.”

Scientific consensus, based on repeated study, is that vaccines do not cause autism. However, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former anti-vaccine activist, has repeatedly expressed views questioning the effectiveness of vaccines and raised unfounded concerns about vaccines and autism. In November, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website was changed to say that “’Vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim."

In a hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on Tuesday, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, also said that he is “absolutely convinced” that the ongoing measles epidemic in parts of the U.S. “is best solved by parents vaccinating their children for measles.”

The NIH director’s response to questioning by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is also notable because of the Trump administration’s move to cut the number of vaccines recommended for every child in the United States.

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