Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime consensus on cell phones quietly erased to make way for an investigation into his claim they emit cancer-causing radiation.
A prevailing body of research backed by multiple health organizations has found no conclusive evidence of such health risks, including the FDA, but the agency’s webpages stating as much have now been taken down.
“The FDA removed webpages with old conclusions about cellphone radiation while HHS undertakes a study on electromagnetic radiation and health research to identify gaps in knowledge, including on new technologies, to ensure safety and efficacy,” HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon told The Wall Street Journal.
Previous versions of the webpage, obtained by the Daily Beast, show a steadfast position refuting suggestions that phones have long-term health consequences.
“The FDA’s physicians, scientists, and engineers regularly analyze scientific studies and publications for evidence of health effects of exposure to radio frequency energy from cell phones,” the FDA website said in October 2025. “The weight of nearly 30 years of scientific evidence has not linked exposure to radio frequency energy from use of cell phones to health problems, such as cancer.
“The FDA also monitors and analyzes public health data on cancer rates in the U.S. population. The data clearly demonstrate no widespread rise in brain and other nervous system cancers in the last 30 years despite the enormous increase in cell phone use during this period. In fact, the rate of brain and other nervous system cancers diagnosed in United States has decreased for the last 15 years or so.”
Kennedy’s insistence that the matter requires further attention clashes with organizations such as the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, both of which echo the findings previously espoused by the FDA.
At the time of writing, the FDA website still has summaries of the information that was once contained on the cellphone page. However, the affiliated link now only returns users to their starting point.
“The evidence to date suggests that cell phone use does not cause brain or other kinds of cancer in humans,” the National Cancer Institute states.
Meanwhile, the American Cancer Society pointed to the 13-country INTERPHONE study, which is “the largest case-control study done to date.”
“Overall, the study found no link between brain tumor risk and the frequency of calls, longer call time, or cell phone use for 10 or more years,” the society said.
Still, Kennedy has long banged the drum against cell phones and Wi-Fi networks.
Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience in 2023, RFK Jr. said, “Our children are swimming around in a toxic soup... The Wi-Fi radiation is a lot worse than people think it is.”
He argued that “Wi-Fi radiation opens up your blood-brain barrier,” resulting in a rush of “toxins” into the brain, a claim experts said was a major distortion of findings from earlier studies that examined much higher levels of radiation than those caused by Wi-Fi.
While he has managed to change the FDA website, that of the Federal Communications Commission, which sets radio frequency exposure limits, remains unchanged.
It says, “Some health and safety interest groups have interpreted certain reports to suggest that wireless device use may be linked to cancer and other illnesses, posing potentially greater risks for children than adults. While these assertions have gained increased public attention, currently no scientific evidence establishes a causal link between wireless device use and cancer or other illnesses.”
Public-health professor Joel Moskowitz of the University of California, Berkeley, told the Journal he had turned down an offer from a Kennedy aide to take part in a study on cell phones. But he recalled the aide telling him $1.5 million had been allocated for the work.
“They’re just doing this to kick the can down the road, and they know it’s not going to result in very much in terms of regulatory change, because the rest of the administration is in a deregulatory mode in terms of this technology,” he said.
Kennedy’s cellphone radiation push comes just a few weeks after he drastically reshaped the childhood vaccine schedule despite outcry from experts.
Health and Human Services and a representative for Kennedy did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
