Free Republic

In July 2019, Minnesota state officials spotted early signs of fraud that would eventually siphon away more than $1 billion in taxpayer money, but they quickly faced pressure from leaders of the charitable group Feeding Our Future to stop asking questions, according to multiple former employees at the Minnesota Department of Education.

Researchers report that a low-dose mixture of zinc, serine, and branch-chain amino acids can alleviate behavioral deficits in three different mouse models of autism. The study shows that when combined together, these three dietary supplements promote communication between neurons in the brain and improve social behaviors. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is known to result from abnormal neural development that affects how neurons are connected. Individually, zinc, serine, and branch-chain amino acids are all thought to have positive effects on neural connectivity. The authors hypothesized that a mixture of the three would be a more effective treatment than any individually and...

Diagnosis rates of autism among children have more than tripled over the past 15 years. One reason, which Minnesota’s welfare scandal lays bare with shocking details, is Medicaid fraud and abuse. Medicaid pays healthcare providers big bucks to diagnose and treat children with autism—sometimes tens of thousands of dollars a month for a single child. Yet states rarely verify that kids who are diagnosed actually meet the medical criteria for the disorder or that they get appropriate treatment from qualified specialists. The result: Children covered by Medicaid or the government-run Children’s Health Insurance Program are 2.5 times as likely as...

My 11-year-old son joined the elementary school band, and so I went to the parents’ orientation night held at a local high-school. As the night went on it became obvious why young men rage against the larger social system and why they might find a character like Nick Fuentes attractive. The classrooms were inundated with DEI messages and trans pride flags. On the walls there were posters, stickers and decorations that all invoked the various totems of diversity. Black Lives Matter messaging, decolonization messaging, LGBTQ+ messaging and basically every sort of race and gender social justice messaging you can imagine...

Somalis in Minnesota swindled millions in state Medicaid autism-care programs and sent the cash back to their homeland and its terror groups, investigators say. Breitbart News reported in July that nearly 100 autism clinics in Minnesota were being investigated for fraudulently billing Medicaid for treatment of children supposedly diagnosed with autism, most of it in connection with the rampantly corrupt Somali community around Minneapolis. But the fraud is far more widespread with far more money involved than was previously reported — all of which has been presided over by former Democrat Party vice-presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz. The money paid...

Minnesota once prided itself on its Scandinavian-style safety net – high taxes, generous benefits and a shared belief that no child should ever go hungry. But that image lies in ruins after a billion-dollar fraud spree that siphoned taxpayer money away from the needy and poured it straight into luxury mansions, high-end cars, overseas real estate and designer lifestyles. What authorities first hoped was a one-off pandemic scam has now been exposed as something far bigger – and far uglier. Federal prosecutors say that over the past five years, scores of scammers – many operating inside Minnesota’s Somali diaspora –...

The unprecedented crackdown that is underway right now to root out fraud in Minnesota’s growing autism program started around the time of a federal raid of two autism centers last year in Minneapolis and St. Cloud. However, there are growing concerns that the state may have missed warning signs. “It makes me sad for the families,” said Dr. Eric Larsson with the Lovaas Institute Midwest. He’s dedicated his life to helping families with autism and even helped the state stand up its autism program a decade ago. “The only reason we’re delivering services is because families worked so hard over...

Minnesota got looted for BILLIONS while Walz, Omar, and Ellison protected the Somali fraud machine for votes. •$250M fake meals → Lambos & Dubai palaces •$400M autism scam → kickbacks & ghost clinics •$300M housing fraud → cash suitcases to Somalia & Al-Shabaab Omar took their dirty money and praised the scams. Ellison slow-walked every probe. Walz signed the waivers and cried “racism” instead of doing his damn job. Trump just killed TPS for the fraudsters. Good. Now arrest the politicians who enabled it. Minnesota deserves better than these vote-chasing cowards.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now says that it’s possible vaccines cause autism, in a reversal of its previous stance.A sign at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 25, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times“The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism,” the CDC said in a Nov. 19 update to its website. “Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”The CDC cited a 2006 paper that analyzed surveys of parents with...

The CDC altered a webpage Wednesday dealing with autism and vaccines to state that the idea that vaccines don't cause autism "is not an evidence-based claim." The page notes that "studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism," adding that "Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities." The development was first reported by The New York Times.The site now contains information often cited by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including that the rise in autism diagnoses since the 1980s coincides with more childhood vaccines administered. "Though the cause of autism is likely...

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention webpage that previously made the case that vaccines don’t cause autism now says they might. The contents of the webpage came up during Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Senate confirmation process. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R., La.) in February said Kennedy had assured him that, if he was confirmed, the CDC would “not remove statements on their website pointing out that vaccines do not cause autism.” The revised webpage says: “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines...

Kimberly-Clark (KMB) shares plunged over 15% premarket on Monday after the consumer goods firm entered a deal to acquire all outstanding shares of Tylenol-maker Kenvue (KVUE) in a cash and stock transaction. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to the receipt of shareholder approvals and regulatory approvals. The deal values Kenvue (KVUE) at an enterprise value of around $48.7 billion, based on the closing price of Kimberly-Clark common stock on October 31, 2025. Under the agreement, unanimously approved by both boards, Kenvue shareholders will receive $3.50 in cash and 0.14625 shares of Kimberly-Clark...

Donald Trump has once again warned Americans against the risks of Tylenol, claiming young children and pregnant women should not take the everyday drug in a furious post online. The president first raised concerns about Tylenol and links to autism at a press conference on September 22 with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump reiterated his guidance about using Tylenol as well as various childhood vaccines. 'Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON,' he wrote.Trump also...

The idea of autism as a single spectrum has shaped thinking for decades, but the metaphor is misleading, says this public health expert.The phrases “autism spectrum” or “on the spectrum” have become part of everyday language. They are often used as different ways of referring to someone who is “neurodivergent”. The term was coined in the 1980s by psychiatrist Dr Lorna Wing, whose work transformed how autism was understood in the United Kingdom. At the time, her “autism spectrum” concept was groundbreaking. Instead of seeing autism as a rare, narrowly defined condition, she recognised a wide range of traits and...

The diagnostic categorisation for autism is so broad that families of profoundly autistic children are being left behind, says the mother of a 7-year-old nonverbal daughter. When I tell strangers that my daughter is autistic, their questions are often so far from my reality, it’s painful. Does she have a unique talent? Special interests? They picture a child who excels at puzzles. But my daughter hasn’t shown an interest in toys since she was 20 months old and is unable to tell me what she wants to be for Halloween or when she grows up. I fear illnesses like strep...

In 2020, the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that one in 36 children (approximately four percent of boys and one percent of girls) was estimated to have autism-spectrum disorder, estimates that were significantly higher than those in all previous years. But just five years later, according to the press conference held just weeks ago on September 22, President Trump — in the presence of U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz — announced that the Department of Health and...

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed Thursday there may be a link between circumcision — due to the use of Tylenol following the procedure — and autism. “There’s two studies which show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” Kennedy said during a meeting of Trump’s cabinet members. “It’s highly likely because they were given Tylenol.”

The pharmaceutical company behind Tylenol privately acknowledged the likelihood of an association between its drug in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism in children seven years ago, company documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.“The weight of the evidence is starting to feel heavy to me,” said Rachel Weinstein, U.S. director of epidemiology for Janssen, the pharmaceutical arm of Johnson & Johnson, in 2018. Johnson & Johnson marketed Tylenol at the time but in 2023 spun off its consumer products division into a separate company called Kenvue.Legacy media headlines and vocal public health experts have dismissed the conclusion...

Tylenol has come under fresh scrutiny after a 2017 post resurfaced in which the brand appeared to warn pregnant women against using its products. The tweet, now being widely shared, stated: 'We actually don't recommend taking any of our products while pregnant.' It has been seized on by the White House just days after President Donald Trump claimed the common painkiller — known as generic paracetamol in Britain and generic acetaminophen in the US — may cause autism. His remarks provoked outrage from doctors, who said there is 'no robust evidence' for such claims. Britain's regulator, the MHRA, also stressed:...

On Monday, President Donald Trump issued an advisory for pregnant women to refrain from taking Tylenol or at the very least cut back on their intake of it as a precaution due to a possible link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) and autism.The reaction to this announcement by the Associated Press that same day displayed an obvious animus that Science was dying. This fury was reflected in the headline of the AP story by Ali Swenson and Lauran Neergaard: "Trump makes unfounded claims about Tylenol and repeats discredited link between vaccines and autism."