Independent autism committee that challenges RFK Jr’s overhaul draws criticism

Kennedy's appointees promoted treatments' like bleach enemas, but new committee has only one autistic member

The first public meeting of US autism advisers - notably, since Robert F Kennedy Jr reshaped the committee - was cancelled recently with few details, coinciding with the creation of a rival organization that has prompted some questions within the autistic community about their focus.

Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who has long argued for a debunked link between vaccines and autism, chose entirely new members for the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) in late January, with fewer autistic people and several anti-vaccine advocates.