A doctor on TikTok has gone viral in a video countering National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Jay Bhattacharya’s claim that scientists are afraid to ask questions about the cause of autism.
Zachary Rubin, an Illinois-based pediatrician with specialties in allergies and immunology, explained that Bhattacharya—with the backing of Secretary of Health and Human Services (HSS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—did scientists a disservice with his claims.
‘Just not the reality’
In a press conference, Bhattacharya said science on autism has not been “rigorous,” adding that “scientists are afraid to ask questions—basic questions that parents want answers to.”
“What the director of the NIH is saying is not true,” Rubin said in his video, which drew more than 148,000 views in five days.
“He’s trying to gaslight the public into thinking that scientists either don’t care, or they’re afraid to ask questions because of some nebulous threat that’s happening. […]
“That is just not the reality.”
Newsweek reached out to Bhattacharya and Kennedy by email on Friday, April 25 requesting further comment.
‘A slap in the face’
In a phone interview with Newsweek on Thursday, Rubin said he believes Kennedy is mischaracterizing what the HHS secretary calls an autism “epidemic.”
Rubin added: “When people call this an epidemic and the rates have been increasing, we have to recognize a lot of this has to do with us changing our diagnostic criteria to be much more inclusive.”
He noted that thousands of studies are published every year on autism spectrum disorder, including 5,000 on PubMed last year.
“It’s really a slap in the face to people who are in the autism spectrum disorder community, or people who take care of them to do all this fear mongering.”
According to Rubin, the administration—which pledged to find the cause of autism by September, before backing off—wants a “silver bullet” on which they can pin autism diagnoses.
Scientists are not afraid to research the environmental factors that may influence developing autism spectrum disorder. #autism #science #tiktokdoc #learnontiktok
“When you say, ‘we’ll have an answer by September,’ this is coming from someone who is not a scientist, who has never done a scientific study,” Rubin said.
“You are already telegraphing to the public that you’re going to come up with preconceived notions.
“It’s really easy to say that, ‘this is the cause of something’ and not show it.”
Public Health Implications
Rubin said that the administration has sewed “doubt and confusion” on autism spectrum disorders.
“My concern is that the community is being stigmatized in harmful ways,” he said. […]
“You have the Secretary of Health and Human Services going out there and saying that this is ‘a tragedy’ and they aren’t going to pay their taxes, that hits a nerve with a lot of people. They don’t feel like they have their full self-worth, but they are all special the way they are.”
Rubin, who has more than 1.8 million followers on TikTok, said he feels a sense of duty to clarify “misleading” information.
“We have these institutions that have been highly respected, that have been apolitical, and that’s why I truly believe medicine and public health have to be apolitical—just serving the people, not worried about politics,” Rubin said.
“But it has now become politicized, and it has caused a lot of confusion, doubt, mistrust, and people are scared right now.”
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