Skip to main content

Kennedy Orders Takedown of Fake CDC Vaccine Web Page

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 24, 2025.

By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, March 24, 2025 -- A fake web page designed to look like the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) vaccine safety site has been taken down on orders from health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The site was linked to Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine nonprofit Kennedy founded.

The page copied the CDC’s logo, layout and design, but promoted false information suggesting that vaccines may cause autism. That idea has been widely debunked by scientists.

After The New York Times asked about the page and news about it spread online, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) responded.

“Secretary Kennedy has instructed the Office of the General Counsel to send a formal demand to Children’s Health Defense requesting the removal of their website,” the HHS said in a statement.

“At HHS we are dedicated to restoring our agencies to their tradition of upholding gold-standard, evidence-based science,” the statement said.

It’s unclear why the nonprofit published the copycat page. Kennedy has said he cut ties with the group when he launched his presidential campaign in 2023.

The group did not reply to The Times' requests for comment.

The page closely resembled the real CDC site and included references to studies that have been criticized for poor quality, as well as videos from parents who believe vaccines harmed their children.

One video was titled “Mother of 3: I Will Never Vaccinate Again."

“It’s a mixture of things that are legitimately peer-reviewed and things that are bogus,” Dr. Bruce Gellin, HHS vaccine director during the Bush and Obama administrations, told The Times.

Kennedy has long claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, repeating this view during his Senate confirmation hearings, despite many studies proving otherwise.

Under his leadership, the CDC recently said it would re-examine the evidence on this issue.

Children’s Health Defense has also challenged the cause of a recent measles death in Texas. A 6-year-old unvaccinated girl was reported by state health officials to have died from measles.

The group claimed hospital records suggested otherwise. In response, the hospital involved said the online video "contains misleading and inaccurate claims,” The Times reported.

Sources

  • The New York Times, March 22, 2025

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted March 2025

Read this next

FDA Limits COVID-19 Boosters to Seniors, Other High-Risk Groups

WEDNESDAY May 21, 2025 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has decided that only seniors and people at high risk should get the latest COVID-19 booster shots this...

FDA Gives Full OK to Novavax COVID Shot for High-Risk Groups

MONDAY, May 19, 2025 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted full approval to Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, but only for certain people. The vaccine...

Houston Wastewater Foretold Texas Measles Outbreak

FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 — Measles virus popped up in Houston wastewater weeks before a notorious Texas outbreak of the highly infectious disease started in January, a new study...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.