The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was rocked on Tuesday by jaw-dropping testimony from political economist Dr. Toby Rogers, Ph.D., M.P.P., who dismantled the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) long-standing narrative on autism.
Dr. Rogers, a Brownstone Institute Fellow and leading researcher, testified that the autism epidemic in America is being fueled by toxic exposures, most notably vaccines, and not by “bad luck genetics,” as government health officials have claimed for decades.
Rogers recounted how his then-partner’s son was diagnosed with autism in 2015, prompting him to dig into the CDC’s claims. As a PhD student trained to scrutinize primary sources, he discovered the agency’s story simply didn’t add up.
Rogers explained how the CDC has leaned on three flimsy excuses for the explosion of autism cases since the 1970s: genetics, parental age, and obscure drugs like valproic acid and thalidomide. But none of these can explain the staggering reality:
Rogers:
“On July 4, 2015, my then-partner’s son was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. I was in a Ph.D. program in Political Economy at the University of Sydney where I had access to almost all current scientific and medical journals.I wanted to better understand what was happening, so I went to the CDC’s webpage on the causes of autism.
As a Ph.D. student I was trained to focus on primary source documents, so I read all of the references in their footnotes. To my surprise, I quickly discovered that the CDC’s narrative did not add up:
- Claims that autism is genetic don’t make sense because autism prevalence was rising too fast — there’s no such thing as a genetic epidemic.
- Then the CDC blamed valproic acid, a treatment for epilepsy that is contraindicated in pregnancy, and thalidomide, which was never approved for use in the U.S. — so those factors could only explain a handful of cases stemming from inadvertent use.
- Finally, the CDC pointed to advanced parental age; however, the effect sizes were modest and the increase in the proportion of older parents is insufficient to explain the surge in autism prevalence.
Rogers changed his doctoral thesis to focus on the political economy of autism, analyzing over 1,000 studies.
Rogers detailed how 22 studies claiming “vaccines don’t cause autism” are essentially worthless because not a single one used a true unvaccinated control group.
Meanwhile, over $2.3 billion has been poured into genetic research with virtually nothing to show for it.
“The search for “the gene for autism” has consumed over $2.3 billion dollars and researchers have almost nothing to show for it because genes don’t suddenly create epidemics — the human genome just doesn’t change that fast,” Rogers said in his testimony.
Even massive epigenetic studies looking at toxins like pesticides, flame retardants, and heavy metals failed because they deliberately refused to control for vaccines. The result? Junk science that conveniently protects Big Pharma.
Rogers pointed senators to a series of independent studies that mainstream media and federal health agencies have either ignored or actively suppressed:
- Gallagher & Goodman (2008, 2010): Birth dose of Hepatitis B significantly raises autism risk.
- Anthony Mawson (2017, 2025): Vaccinated children are at least 4.2 times more likely to develop autism.
- Hooker & Miller (2021): Vaccination increases autism risk fivefold — and up to 18.7-fold in combination with C-section births and lack of breastfeeding.
Even more damning: A systematic review of 1,000 studies led Rogers to conclude that vaccines, along with a dozen toxic exposures, are the primary drivers of America’s autism and chronic disease epidemics.
According to Rogers, eyewitness testimony from thousands of parents backs up the data: normal development followed by a devastating “autistic regression” almost immediately after a so-called “well-baby” vaccine appointment.
Rogers’ work, once dismissed, is now one of the top 10 most downloaded doctoral theses in the history of the University of Sydney. He told the Senate that the epidemic will not end until Washington stops protecting Big Pharma and instead listens to parents, whistleblowers, and independent researchers.
“If we stop exposing children to these hazards in the first place that would stop the epidemics of chronic illness in children. Now we must summon the political will to act,” he said.
WATCH:
A stunning testimony from political economist Dr. Toby Rogers, PhD, before the U.S. Senate. He dismantles the official narrative on the autism epidemic with data, evidence, and a powerful personal story.
In 2015, his then-partner’s son was diagnosed with autism. As a PhD student… pic.twitter.com/NsH01lhHkX
— Camus (@newstart_2024) September 9, 2025
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