Kennedy seeks answers from journal over retracted vaccine study
6 reported
Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has sent a letter to the journal Toxicology Reports demanding answers about its decision to remove a paper suggesting a link between vaccines and infant death. The letter, posted on X on Monday, asks the journal to identify experts involved in the investigation that led to the paper’s removal this spring. Public health advocates criticized the move, with some saying Kennedy appeared to be trying to intimidate the journal. An HHS official defended the letter, stating that asking questions is not censorship. The journal’s editor and publisher did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The paper, written by Neil Z Miller, used data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System to suggest a causal relationship between vaccination and sudden infant death syndrome. Critics have identified methodological problems with the paper, including that Miller is not a scientist and misunderstood the VAERS data.
What’s reported
Kennedy posted the letter on X on Monday, asking the journal to answer questions about its decision by June 25.
The journal Toxicology Reports removed the paper this spring after an investigation identified “serious methodological flaws.”
An HHS official said Kennedy did not direct the journal to publish, retract, or revise any article.
The paper was written by Neil Z Miller and used VAERS data to suggest a link between vaccination and SIDS.
Critics, including forensic scientist Magdalen Wind-Mozley, raised concerns about the paper starting in 2021.
Miller said he was not in touch with HHS and did not know the letter was being sent.
Key figures
Robert F Kennedy Jr, US health secretary
Dorit Reiss, vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco
Dr David Gorski, surgical oncologist
Lawrence Lash, editor of Toxicology Reports
Neil Z Miller, author of the paper
Magdalen Wind-Mozley, forensic scientist and vaccine advocate
Sources: The Guardian
