# Claim table — RFK Jr. vaccine-autism / detox Facebook Reel

| Claim in Reel/caption | Evidence label | Source-check note |
|---|---|---|
| RFK Jr. says “Autism is caused by vaccines.” | Confirmed source claim. | The captured Facebook Reel audio contains the quote and appears to be excerpted from a John Stossel/RFK Jr. interview circulated in 2024–2025. |
| CDC data / Verstraeten hepatitis-B analysis showed a 1,350% elevated autism risk from HepB in the first 30 days. | Preliminary-data claim; not a settled causal finding. | Stossel’s fact-check says Kennedy was referring to preliminary raw data later adjusted away. A preliminary association, especially one not standing after analysis, does not by itself prove causation. |
| Big CDC-funded studies are invalid because Poul Thorsen stole grant money. | Real financial-fraud allegation; not proof of data fraud. | DOJ records show Thorsen was charged over CDC grant-money fraud related to autism/vaccine research funding. That does not by itself establish that the underlying epidemiological datasets were fabricated or that all vaccine-autism studies are invalid. |
| Autism prevalence is high and has risen. | Supported, with ascertainment caveats. | CDC ADDM reports ASD identification rose from about 1 in 150 in 2000 to 1 in 36 in 2020 and 1 in 31 in 2022, while noting site variability and identification/service-practice differences. |
| Vaccines generally cause autism. | Not established by stronger population evidence checked here. | The IOM/National Academies review found epidemiological evidence favored rejecting a causal relationship for MMR and thimerosal-containing vaccines; CDC thimerosal pages say research does not show a link and rates continued rising after thimerosal removal. Current debates over under-studied infant-vaccine combinations do not make the broad causal claim proven. |
| Caption claims: 1 in 12 food sensitivities, 1 in 5 eczema, 1 in 285 cancer before age 20, and “400%” chronic-illness rise. | Mixed. | CDC/NCHS reports food allergy closer to 1 in 20 children in 2021–2024, not 1 in 12 for diagnosed food allergy. Eczema is about 1 in 10 to 1 in 8 in CDC/NCHS data, not 1 in 5 nationally. The 1 in 285 childhood cancer figure appears in ACS/PubMed context as lifetime risk before age 20. A broad “400% since the 1960s” claim was not verified as a single clean national statistic in this pass. |
| Nutrient-dense diet and “gentle heavy metal detox” can make autism/child chronic symptoms disappear. | Anecdote / marketing; safety concern. | Nutrition matters for children, and verified heavy-metal poisoning requires medical treatment. But chelation/detox for autism is not supported as an autism treatment and can be dangerous; Cochrane/ASAT/Mayo-style sources warn against unproven chelation/detox use outside confirmed poisoning and medical supervision. |
| Court/judge component. | No JudgeWatch trigger. | No court case, judge, tribunal decision, sentence, bail order or legal ruling is identified in the captured Reel or core source trail. |