A highly anticipated presentation set to be delivered at this week's meeting of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has come under scrutiny. The presentation, led by Lyn Redwood, a former leader of the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense, asserts that a study conducted on animals indicated that the vaccine preservative thimerosal may lead to “long-term consequences in the brain.” However, investigations reveal that the purported study appears to be nonexistent.
Scheduled for Thursday, Redwood's presentation will be made during a session of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The slides, made public online on Tuesday, reference a 2008 study published in the journal Neurotoxicology by “Berman RF, et al,” titled “Low-level neonatal thimerosal exposure: Long-term consequences in the brain.” The presentation claims that findings from research involving newborn rats imply long-term “neuroimmune effects” attributed to the vaccine preservative.
Upon investigation, the cited study appears to refer to Dr. Robert F. Berman, a professor emeritus at the University of California Davis, whose research primarily focuses on brain injury and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, Dr. Berman has publicly stated, “I don’t have a publication in Neurotoxicology by that title.” He further clarified that the reference in Redwood’s slides does not exist, at least not under his authorship. Berman did publish a paper in 2008, but it appeared in a different journal and involved different animals, leading to vastly different conclusions.
“My study was published in Toxicological Sciences and did not find evidence of thimerosal exposure at vaccine levels affecting mouse behaviors relevant to autism,” Berman expressed, indicating his concern regarding the misrepresentation of his research in Redwood's slides.
Following the identification of the erroneous citation, Redwood’s presentation was promptly removed from the CDC website and replaced with an updated version that omits Berman's citation. The initial citation was brought to light by Dr. David Boulware, an infectious diseases professor at the University of Minnesota. Boulware noted, “The conclusion on that slide seemed really strong and definitive, and thus I wanted to look up the paper to see if the results matched their interpretation of it. … And I couldn’t find the citation.”
As of now, neither Redwood nor the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has responded to requests for comments regarding the misleading presentation.
The presentation has incited controversy, particularly because thimerosal has been a focal point for advocates suggesting, without substantial evidence, that it may cause autism due to its mercury content. In fact, thimerosal was removed from most vaccines approximately 25 years ago as a precautionary measure, and multiple studies have failed to find evidence linking it to neurodevelopmental effects.
Redwood has previously claimed in a video posted on Children’s Health Defense’s website that she believes thimerosal in pediatric vaccines was a contributing factor to her son’s autism. This topic was added to the vaccine advisers’ agenda at the last minute, raising alarms among public health experts about the potential resurgence of debunked claims regarding vaccine safety.
The meeting was further complicated by the recent dismissal of all previous experts on the influential vaccine panel by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who claimed they had conflicts of interest. He subsequently appointed eight new members, stirring concern among public health officials and legislators. Senator Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, has called for the meeting to be postponed until the panel includes a more diverse and knowledgeable representation, as mandated by law.
This is not the first instance of questionable citations in reports associated with Kennedy. The initial version of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report, which centered on children's health, also included references to studies that do not exist. An HHS spokesperson described these as “minor citation and formatting errors.” During a House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing, Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat and physician from California, pressed Kennedy about these errors, questioning, “Why did the report include a citation to sources that don’t even exist?” Kennedy maintained that “all of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate” and asserted that the erroneous citations had been corrected promptly.
As the debate continues, the implications of this presentation and the ongoing discussion surrounding thimerosal and vaccine safety remain pivotal in the realm of public health. The credibility of scientific research and the responsibility of public health officials to provide accurate information is more crucial than ever.
