Joe.My.God. LGBT News
The Associated Press reports:
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a plan Wednesday to use medical data and records from people on Medicaid and Medicare to help study autism although experts say it’s unlikely to help reveal the condition’s root causes.
The program will involve a data sharing agreement between the National Institutes of Health, the government’s health research arm, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which has access to claims data from nearly 150 million Americans across the country.
“We’re using this partnership to uncover the root causes of autism and other chronic diseases,” Kennedy said in a statement.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Gov. JB Pritzker on Wednesday signed an executive order to restrict the mass collection and sharing of autism-related data for Illinois residents, in response to the country’s top health secretary’s rhetoric around the cause of autism.
The executive order comes after Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary, recently said he would undertake a “massive testing and research effort” to determine the cause of autism, including an investigation into whether any environmental factors are causing the development disorder.
The governor’s office said the executive order is in response to rising concerns about efforts to create federal autism registries or databases without legal safeguards or accountability. With Pritzker’s signature, Illinois becomes the first state to formally restrict the collection or sharing of autism-related data absent legal or medical necessity.
There’s more at both links.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order that formally restricts the unauthorized collection of autism-related data by state agencies.
Pritzker’s order responds to federal efforts under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to create databases of personal information for those with autism.
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune.com) May 7, 2025 at 7:21 PM