RFK Jr under fire for ‘bullying’ letter to scientific journal
US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr is demanding answers from a medical journal that retracted a paper suggesting a link between vaccines and infant death. Public health advocates criticize his move as an attempt to intimidate and influence the editorial process.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, has sent a letter to the journal Toxicology Reports demanding answers about its decision to retract a paper that suggested a link between vaccines and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Kennedy posted the letter on X on Monday, asking the journal editor to respond by June 25 to several questions, including identifying the experts who conducted the investigation into the paper.
The journal retracted the paper this spring after editors determined it had serious methodological flaws that could harm patients and pose a risk to public health. It was one of three papers the Guardian highlighted that have been used by Kennedy and his allies to justify controversial changes to federal vaccine policy.
Public health advocates immediately criticized Kennedy's action, saying he appeared to be trying to intimidate and influence the journal's editorial process. Dorit Reiss, a vaccine law expert at UC Law San Francisco, wrote on X that if Kennedy is using his position to bully a journal, he is stepping close to violating its First Amendment rights. Dr David Gorski, a surgical oncologist, noted that Kennedy portrays himself as pro-free speech but is apparently using the power of his position to pressure a private publisher's editorial decision.
A Health and Human Services (HHS) official defended Kennedy, stating that asking questions is not censorship and seeking an explanation is not coercion. The official said HHS would continue working to restore trust in public health through increased accountability and open scientific inquiry.
The journal's editor, Lawrence Lash, and publisher Elsevier did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Elsevier previously told the Guardian that the decision followed careful review and that the paper's recommendations could pose potential risks to public health.
The paper's author, Neil Z Miller, who is not a scientist, defended his work and opposed the retraction. He said the journal never specified the methodological flaws in his paper. Miller stated he had not been in touch with HHS and did not know the letter was being sent. He expressed gratitude that Kennedy was seeking an explanation and hoped it would ensure articles are not removed solely because they are controversial.
Magdalen Wind-Mozley, a forensic scientist with the Oxford Vaccine Group, called the paper "utter garbage from start to finish" and said Kennedy's apparent attempts to bully the journal were low.
