Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health and human services, is set to amass the private medical records of Americans for a new autism study. On April 21, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya — director of the National Institutes of Health — announced that the NIH will provide Kennedy with data pulled from a number of federal and commercial databases, CBS News reports. Kennedy — who has previously promoted a scientifically debunked claim that autism is caused by vaccines — is also launching a new registry to track Americans with autism. Bhattacharya explained that between 10 and 20 outside groups of researchers will have access to these records, and they will be provided with grant funding to carry out Kennedy’s autism studies. He added that this data will allow researchers to study "comprehensive" patient data with "broad coverage" of the U.S. population for the first time. Bhattacharya said during a presentation that the data will include medical records from pharmacy chains, lab tests, genomics data from patients treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Indian Health Service, claims from private insurers, data from smartwatches and fitness trackers and more.

The National Institutes of Health could soon be collecting the private health data of millions of Americans to create an autism registry. It is part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s efforts to identify the cause or causes of autism.

The momentum behind the Make America Healthy Again movement is strong. In fact, it’s so strong that RFK Jr. has now claimed that Health and Human Services will announce multiple new studies on the role of environmental toxins in autism within only three weeks. “Within three weeks, and probably, we’re hoping in two weeks, we’re going to announce a series of new studies to identify precisely what the environmental toxins are that are causing it. This has not been done before, and we’re going to do it in a thorough and comprehensive way, and we’re going to get back with an answer to the American people very quickly,” RFK Jr. said in his announcement.

The National Institutes of Health will begin collecting Americans' private health records. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya told a panel of experts about the plan this week. It's part of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s controversial plan to find a cure for autism.

The National Institutes of Health claims it is fulfilling RFK’s promise to find cause of autism by September