When Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became secretary of Human and Health Services (HHS) after President Donald Trump’s reelection in 2024, many doctors prepared for impact. Even prior to the reelection, Kennedy, a known anti-vaxxer equipped with no medical degree or doctorate, has shared half-truths about proven science, including on vaccine efficacy, safety, and its connection to autism.  

As such, many families, including those in the North Shore, have been caught between Kennedy’s government-backed statements on health and doctors’ advice. For pediatricians, this is a devastating blow to their profession—after all, most of Kennedy’s inflammatory statements have centered around childhood vaccines and its potential connection to childhood autism. 

“There are plenty of families that ask my advice and take my advice,” Dr. Patricia Brunner, a pediatrician from the Pediatric Associates of the North Shore (PANS) in Wilmette says. “But there’s lots of families that are caught between Internet information—information that is not necessarily valid from Health and Human Services—and the information that I’ve given them.”

This has primarily occurred with families with young children, especially those who need crucial vaccines such as the DTaP (Diphtheria, Tetanus Pertussis), Hepatitis B, and MMR (Mumps, Measles Rubella). 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) previously had a recommended schedule that organized when these vaccines should be given to infants. Pediatricians would follow the CDC’s schedule routinely, but now, there is no longer a confidence in this recommended schedule. This can make it hard for concerned parents to believe that vaccines are safe for their children, says Dr Brunner.

This is something that she feels will impact babies in a devastating way.

“The unraveling of a safe and proven infant vaccine schedule is going to show up with infant deaths in the coming years,” Brunner says.

As a result, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), a leading pediatric association that helps advise lawmakers on pediatric healthcare, has released their own recommendations for vaccinations. Many pediatric offices follow this schedule, including Brunner’s practice and other offices throughout the North Shore.

“Children’s Healthcare Associates follows the immunization guidelines recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),” a website for a Glencoe pediatric office says. “Vaccines are safe and effective in preventing diseases and health complications in children and young adults.”

The AAP also includes information on vaccine efficacy, safety, and ingredients—all of which Kennedy has constantly scrutinized, stating that infant vaccines are unsafe and can cause autism. 

In the medical community, the general consensus is that the cause of autism is multi-faceted: one environmental factor, such as getting a vaccine after birth, isn’t what causes the disorder. Doctors instead think that there are multiple factors, such as genetics, the overall health of the mother, and exposure during pregnancy.

Kennedy’s claim–that vaccines can cause autism–is based on the fact that the time when autism symptoms typically develop occurs at around the same time as when infant vaccines are given. This, coupled with the fact that autism diagnoses are increasing, became a concern in the government’s eyes and has prompted further scrutiny. 

While Kennedy has recently softened his stance on vaccines, stating that there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism, he still says that it is too early to generalize that “vaccines are safe” or that “vaccines do not cause autism”—a statement the CDC describes as “not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.” Instead he simply states that right now, there is no direct evidence between the two.

Many parents are now refusing to give their children vaccines.

“They’re trying to figure out what’s best for their baby and some of them are not vaccinating their children,” Brunner says.

For doctors themselves, Kennedy’s policies and their effects can be overwhelming. 

“We feel under attack right now,” Brunner says. “We feel like all of the work that has been done to protect children in their first year of life with that immunization schedule is getting unraveled. It feels so frustrating.” 

As a result, the medical community tries to support each other when they can. Sometimes, that means talking about recent developments over lunch break. At other times, it means sending news articles to each other.

Pediatricians around the North Shore are also trying to counter Kennedy’s statements by educating the public.

“We are advocates of vaccines and we feel strongly that administering them based on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended schedule is one of the most important preventative care measures that any physician can offer,” Donohue Pediatrics, a pediatric practice with a branch in Winnetka, writes on their website. They add that “Immunizations have saved more lives than any other medical advance.”

Doctors are also continuing to educate about vaccine safety and efficacy during visits to their office.

“Our practice educates at every visit–every well-visit–about vaccines, [and] why they’re important, why they’re safe, which ones are due now, which ones are coming,” Brunner says. “And for most of our families, [that means] they end up vaccinating.”

Doctors also hope that patients can trust all of their medical advice, not just the more “physical” advice.

“I’m puzzled at how people can take my advice on wearing helmets for their kids and using seat belts, but they turn around and [say] ‘we don’t trust you on the vaccines, or we don’t want to listen to you on vaccines,’” Brunner says.

Brunner thinks that the way for patients to trust medical advice, such as those surrounding infant vaccine schedules, is that patients need to trust their doctors completely.

“I think the advice is to educate yourself, but also to realize that the education you’re getting on the Internet is where your search engine goes,” Brunner says. “And if you find a provider that you can trust, whichever provider it is, trusting that provider is part of the [doctor-patient] relationship.”