RFK Jr.’s “Maha Report” cited a nonexistent study and revealed that he misunderstood others
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released 73 pagesMany reportsIt was commissioned by the Trump administration last week. It included a section on childhood illnesses aimed at finding the root causes of chronic diseases in the United States; Ultra-processed food, Chemicals, Technology and children’s mental healthand medication and vaccine For children.
Citing 522 studies, RFK calls the report a “milestone” achievement of public health filled with “gold standard” science.
But now its truth is under scrutiny as a non-profit, nonpartisan outlet It’s known Several studies have revealed that they have been misinterpreted in the reports, and that seven of them were absent.
Epidemiologist Katherine Keys said she was not surprised to hear that she had not written such a paper, noting that she had been cited in the report as the author of a study on adolescent anxiety, “changes in mental health and substance use among adolescents in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“The cited papers are not real papers that I or my colleagues were involved in,” Keyes told Notus. “We have certainly done research on this topic, but have not published any papers. Jama Pediatrics For this topic, we use its co-author group or its title. ”
The link to questionable research has been broken Journal Issues The report states that it does not include papers on the topic.
Notus also revealed that two papers were not found in the report section on “Corporate Media Capture.” Each is said to have demonstrated the concept that consumer advertising promotes the use of medication among children and adolescents. However, one of the authors who cited him confirmed that he had not written the article cited in the report, but it appears that no other researchers exist.
In another case, pediatric respiratory specialist Dr. Harold J. Farber denied writing a cited study entitled “Children in America are taking too many medications – the recent emerging crisis.” He said he has never worked with any other listed authors.
Misunderstood data
Farber told Notus that Maha’s report has significantly overgeneralized research into overprescribing asthma medications to children.
“Using data from 2011-2015 in the 2025 national care pattern and generalizing it from research in one Medicaid managed care program in Texas is a huge leap of faith,” Farber told Notus.
It seemed to be a common theme for the rest of the report, Notus discovered. In one section on mental health medications, other points Competition Kennedy’s case – The report cites the paper as evidence that treatment alone is more effective than psychiatry. But according to one of the statisticians in the paper, it is not an exact takeaway. Joanne Mackenzie, a professor of biostatistics at an Australian university, told NotUS that their research did not measure or compare the effectiveness of the treatment as a mental health treatment.
“We didn’t include psychotherapy in our reviews. We only compared the efficacy of (new generation) antidepressants with each other and against placebo,” she said in an email to Notus.
Notus revealed even more inaccurate expressions in the report. Another cited study reportedly claimed that “prescriptions of antipsychotics in children increased by 800% between 1993 and 2009,” in fact 1995 to 2005.
Another medical researcher revealed to NotUS that the MAHA report mischaracterized a study on how screen time affects children’s sleep.
“The report’s conclusions are not accurate and the journal reference is incorrect. Pediatrics. Also, this study was conducted in college students, not children,” Mariana G. Figuero told Notus.
The Trump administration responds
In response to Notus’ findings, spokesman Karoline Leavitt called inaccuracy a “formalization of the problem” and said the White House had “full confidence” on both RFK Jr. and his Maha committee.
“We understand that there are some formatting issues with the MAHA reports being addressed and the report will be updated,” she said at a press conference Thursday. “But as you know, this is one of the most transformative health reports ever released by the federal government and does not deny the content of the report, supported by good science that has never been recognized by the federal government.”
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This story was originally introduced Fortune.com