Three studies used by RFK Jr and allies to justify controversial vaccine policy changes facing new scrutiny

A man gets Covid and flu vaccine shots in Boston on . Photograph: Boston Globe/ View image in fullscreen A man gets Covid and flu vaccine shots in Boston on . Photograph: Boston Globe/ Three studies used , retract or remove controversial studies. The authors stand , retracted or placed under investigation . In some cases, the actions occurred years after scientists first raised alarms about the studies’ scientific merits. Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary who has been a leader in the anti-vaccine movement for decades, relied on two of the studies that are now facing scrutiny for a 2023 book he co-wrote that argued unvaccinated children were healthier than children who had been vaccinated. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cited one of the papers when it changed its long-held position that vaccines do not cause autism, cutting against the scientific consensus. And all three papers were cited -vaccine lawyer who called for changes to the childhood immunization schedule before an influential federal vaccine advisory panel. Trump’s pick for surgeon general sells supplement with ingredient banned . Scientists who previously criticized the papers said the actions were a positive step, as public health officials and physicians across the US are reporting a rise in vaccine-preventable diseases such as whooping cough and measles. But all three have been roundly criticized for using poor methodologies and analyses. One, by Neil Z Miller, was published in 2021 in Toxicology Reports and suggested a link between vaccines and sudden infant death syndrome, or Sids. Another, published in 2020 -authored S Hooker, suggested vaccinated children had higher rates of certain health problems like developmental delays and asthma than did unvaccinated children. The third, by Carolyn M Gallagher and Melody S Goodman, was published in 2010 in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health, Part A, and found boys vaccinated for hepatitis B in their first four weeks of life were more likely to be diagnosed with autism. Some of the four researchers involved said they disagree with the journals’ decisions. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not return emails seeking comment. Aaron Siri, who has previously acted as Kennedy’s lawyer, cited the three papers as evidence for a presentation he was invited to give to the federal vaccine advisory committee in December. In a statement to the Guardian, he compared the scrutiny the papers have come under a “targeted assassination”. He also stood “available evidence” that vaccines are “safe and effective”, alleging his assessment relied on hundreds of other articles, reviews and trial documents.