• December 20, 2025 - PBS News Weekend full episode

    December 20, 2025 - PBS News Weekend full episode

    Dec 20, 2025 11:00 PM EST

    Saturday on PBS News Weekend, the Justice Department’s release of more material on Jeffrey Epstein gets criticism for heavy redactions. How companies may be using artificial intelligence to set individualized prices by sifting through your personal data online. Plus, a conversation with world-renowned animal scientist and autism advocate ...

  • GOP Sen. Cassidy on addressing rising health care costs and expiring subsidies

    GOP Sen. Cassidy on addressing rising health care costs and expiring subsidies

    Dec 16, 2025 11:35 PM EST

    ... that has, frankly, never been an issue before. But we clearly differ on things like immunizations. On immunizations, they are safe. They do not cause autism. It is clear that we're having an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases and even death from people who have chosen not to vaccine ...

  • North Carolina's governor scraps Medicaid rate cuts amid legal challenges and Republican opposition

    North Carolina's governor scraps Medicaid rate cuts amid legal challenges and Republican opposition

    Dec 10, 2025 04:41 PM EST

    The governor was pushed to relent as Medicaid consumers such as children with autism and providers like adult care homes have successfully sued the health department so far and blocked certain rate reductions. The plaintiffs accused the state of violating laws by reducing rates unilaterally and discriminating against those with ...

  • Disney changed the disability policies for their parks. Here's what to know

    Disney changed the disability policies for their parks. Here's what to know

    Dec 08, 2025 11:10 PM EST

    ... qualifies now? Disney narrowed the scope from people with a wider range of disabilities to mostly guests who “due to a developmental disability such as autism or similar” have difficulties waiting in a long line. Under the changes, guests seeking a DAS pass must be interviewed via video chat by ...

  • RFK-appointed CDC panel drops hepatitis B vaccine at birth recommendation

    RFK-appointed CDC panel drops hepatitis B vaccine at birth recommendation

    Dec 05, 2025 11:50 PM EST

    ... ethylmercury-containing preservative vaccines, caused autism, he wrote a book, "Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak." And thimerosal, study after study showed that didn't cause autism. Then, in April of this year, he said, I'm going to have a major announcement. Autism is preventable. We're going to have ...

  • Fraud scandals and Trump’s rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota’s Somali community

    Fraud scandals and Trump’s rhetoric escalate fears in Minnesota’s Somali community

    Dec 05, 2025 11:40 PM EST

    And in September, a woman was charged for defrauding a state autism treatment program. All told, federal prosecutors estimate fraud in Minnesota could cost taxpayers over a billion dollars. When you started to read about these fraud stories, what was your reaction as a Somali American? Ahmed Samatar, Macalester College ...

  • WATCH: RFK Jr.’s CDC panel delays vote on hepatitis B shots for newborns

    WATCH: RFK Jr.’s CDC panel delays vote on hepatitis B shots for newborns

    Dec 03, 2025 11:53 PM EST

    ... about 18,000 per year to about 2,200. But members of Kennedy's committee have voiced discomfort with vaccinating all newborns. Cynthia Nevison, an autism and environmental researcher, presented at the meeting. Nevison has written opinion pieces published by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine advocacy organization Kennedy ...

  • RFK Jr. says the Trump administration is following 'gold standard' science. Here's what to know

    RFK Jr. says the Trump administration is following 'gold standard' science. Here's what to know

    Nov 24, 2025 05:01 PM EST

    ... studies have limitations because they can often only prove correlation, not causation. For example, some observational studies have raised the possibility of a link between autism risk and using acetaminophen during pregnancy, but more have not found a connection. The big problem is that those kinds of studies cannot determine ...

  • Colorado aims to protect vaccine access as Trump administration casts doubt on safety

    Colorado aims to protect vaccine access as Trump administration casts doubt on safety

    Nov 21, 2025 11:40 PM EST

    This week, the CDC changed its website to suggest that vaccines may cause autism, even though there's no scientific evidence to prove such a link. It’s the latest change to vaccine guidance under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In response, some Democratic-led states have taken steps ...

  • FDA head explains decision to drop 'black box' warnings from menopause hormone treatment

    FDA head explains decision to drop 'black box' warnings from menopause hormone treatment

    Nov 10, 2025 11:30 PM EST

    ... women. But the FDA is also calling for a label change to acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol, citing an association between use and pregnancy and autism in children, although no causal relationship has been established. Does the FDA have a consistent standard here in the application of these warning labels ...