Illinois Governor Pritzker Protects Personal Health Info about Autism

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Governor J.B. Pritzker (D-IL) signed an executive order barring the federal government from gathering personal health data pertaining to autism from Illinois state agencies.

Two days earlier, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced his intention to use data from the National Institutes of Health as well as claims information submitted from Medicare and Medicaid to investigate causes of autism. RFK Jr. has a history of claiming that vaccines in childhood cause autism. Recently he has papered over this by claiming he is certain autisms is caused by environmental factors. Experts note that RFK Jr.’s proposed database omits genetic information. It can only be used to investigate what its information covers.

Pritzker’s order prohibits state agencies, state contractors, vendors and grant recipients from disclosing “personally identifiable autism-related data” outside of state government. The only exceptions are when

  • the person or their guardian gives consent
  • it is necessitated by legal action
  • it is neededto provide services such as employment or housing
  • it is otherwise required by law

Illinois is the first state to put any such safeguards in place.

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