Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s push to collect troves of personal medical data to find the cause of autism has researchers and patient advocates questioning whether his plan to cast a wide net makes it easier to pick and choose information that supports certain theories — including the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.

The National Institute of Health is moving forward with a plan endorsed by RFK Jr. to create what critics are calling an "autism registry".

Kennedy Jr. insists an environmental toxin is responsible for increased autism prevalence in the U.S. "This is a preventable disease," he said April 16, dismissing an HHS agency report’s explanation for the increase.