HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Says He’ll Ban Agency Scientists From Publishing Findings In Prestigious Medical Journals

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened to prohibit government scientists from publishing in the three most prominent medical journals globally.

On Tuesday, Kennedy spoke on the Ultimate Human podcast, where he declared the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and The Lancet are corrupt. He argued that the journals all have connections to the pharmaceutical industry, where companies fund and approve articles for publication. There is no evidence that the journals allow funders to approve articles.

Kennedy recently ordered the CDC to stop recommending that water be fluoridated, a move that has been met with controversy.

Kennedy has stated that he intends to stop National Institutes of Health (NIH) scientists from publishing in the three journals unless they implement significant changes. The NIH is an HHS organization that provides the largest amount of funding for medical research. Kennedy has stated that he intends for the HHS to create its own journals for the scientists to publish in instead.

Kennedy has declared that the heads of the journals don’t believe their own publications to be trustworthy anymore. Kennedy seems to be referring to statements made in 2009 and 2015 by The Lancet Editor-in-Chief Richard Horton and NEJM former editor-in-chief Marcia Angell. In the statements, Angell had said that pharmaceutical companies often funded clinical research, while Horton expressed concerns about research findings not being replicable.

Kennedy’s threats were made a few days after Kennedy issued a report that stated the increase in chronic diseases found in children came from medications being excessively prescribed. The report claims that the involvement of pharmaceutical companies in the medical world has led doctors and scientists to stop investigating the causes of chronic diseases. The report also suggests that doctors and scientists are hesitant to speak out against these companies.

JAMA and NEJM have recently received letters from the Department of Justice questioning whether they are promoting a partisan agenda.

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Article by Sherry Chen

Sherry Chen is a uPolitics writer.