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After Website Tweak, Cassidy Says He'll Support CDC Nominee
Newser • • nation
Key Points:
- Sen. Bill Cassidy has decided to vote to confirm Erica Schwartz as CDC director, citing his belief in vaccines and confidence that Schwartz shares this view.
- Schwartz testified she would follow the science despite reporting to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a known vaccine skeptic.
- Cassidy was influenced by changes to the CDC's "Autism and Vaccines" webpage, which removed a disclaimer questioning the statement that vaccines do not cause autism.
- The revised CDC page now states that studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism and acknowledges that scientists have not identified autism's root causes.
- Schwartz's confirmation follows a contentious process influenced by vaccine skepticism within HHS, with her predecessor having been pushed out over similar disputes.
