Source? I made it up: RFK Jr.’s MAHA report cites fabricated studies

An examination of the report discovered falsified studies, broken links, and misrepresentations of findings. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again commission recently released its inaugural report, claiming it as a significant evaluation of childhood chronic diseases. However, a careful review revealed a notable issue in MAHA’s analysis: several of the referenced studies were non-existent.

According to a report by the political news website NOTUS, MAHA had distorted findings from existing reports and even concocted some studies. NOTUS identified numerous instances of cited reports that had dysfunctional links, were unsearchable online, and were not published in the journals listed in the MAHA report. Some of the listed authors or their affiliated institutions denied having conducted the studies mentioned.

Epidemiologist Katherine Keyes, cited in the MAHA Report regarding adolescent anxiety and depression, clarified that she had not authored the study mentioned. She stated, “The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with.”

One author mentioned in the report criticized the commission’s conclusions as overly generalized and an unjustified extrapolation from his research. Another author noted that the report’s conclusions were inaccurate and the journal reference was incorrect.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to downplay the reported inaccuracies, attributing them to “formatting issues” and stating that the report would be revised.