A rumor circulated online in mid-June 2026 that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., was supportive of an experimental treatment for autistic children based on unproven stem cell research.
Users on social media claimed Kennedy supported a procedure in which parents of autistic children were being charged up to $20,000 per treatment for "regenerative medicine" that allegedly could lead to dramatic improvements in the children's speech and socialization, as well as reduced self-harming or aggressive behavior.
Kennedy has a history of involvement with an organization that actively promoted research into stem cell treatments related to autism, but Snopes could not find a record of him publicly voicing his support for such treatments. Snopes reached out to HHS for comment on Kennedy's support of such programs and will update this article if we receive a response.
The rumor appeared to gain traction following reporting by The Guardian published on June 12, 2026.
The British news outlet wrote:
Autistic children as young as 18 months old are being injected with human stem cells derived from umbilical cords in unapproved, unproven and potentially harmful "treatments" that scientists warn are proliferating across the US under the active encouragement of the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The Guardian cited Kennedy's appearances as a guest speaker at the Autism Health Summit, an event put on by the nonprofit organization Autism Health, which promoted its approach to autism advocacy as "fearless in addressing the topics that others refuse to touch."
In a March 2026 news release, Autism Health announced a partnership with the Cellular Performance Institute, a stem-cell treatment company based in Tijuana, Mexico, that says it specializes in "advanced stem cell therapies for anti-aging, orthopedic injuries, degenerative disc disease, sports performance, autoimmune conditions, neurological disorders, and cellular optimization."
The company's FAQ page said its "advanced cell-based therapies are not banned in the United States, they simply have not yet received FDA approval for broad clinical use."
A post on Autism Health's Instagram page from April 2026 featured video from Kennedy addressing attendees, in which he cited the launch of the National Institutes of Health's Autism Data Science Initiative, which awarded more than $50 million toward research "to better understand what causes autism and why it's becoming more prevalent."
Kennedy said, in part:
Within the past year, HHS has launched a bold effort to better understand autism, its causes, its treatments, and how we help every individual flourish. We're strengthening autism research. We're prioritizing gold standard science. We're asking better questions and insisting on clear answers.
[…]
Together, we build systems that serve families. We will deliver care that reflects science and compassion. We're gonna create opportunities that extend across a lifetime, and we're gonna do it with transparency, accountability, and purpose.
Kennedy's video for attendees also was reported by NBC News and People magazine. Further, Autism Health founder Tracy Slepcevic, cited as a "good friend" of Kennedy's in his video and a member of Kennedy's autism coordinating committee, shared the video on her Facebook account and wrote, "The conversation is shifting. The science is advancing. Hope is rising."
The organization's website for its 2027 summit includes a panel titled "Innovative Therapies in Autism Care: HBOT, Peptides, Stem Cells & Emerging Interventions."
Meanwhile, the FDA advised against such experimental therapies and said that "if you are being charged for these products or offered these products outside of a clinical trial, you are likely being deceived and offered a product illegally."
A study at Duke University concluded that injections derived from umbilical cord blood were "not associated with improved socialization skills or reduced autism symptoms."
For further reading, we investigated a rumor that Kennedy said that circumcised children had double the rate of autism.