Controversy Erupts Over Presentation to CDC Vaccine Advisors
A presentation scheduled for this week’s meeting of independent vaccine advisors to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sparked controversy after appearing to cite a scientific study that its purported author says does not exist. The presentation made claims about the potential long-term brain consequences of thimerosal, a preservative once common in vaccines.
The presentation was slated to be delivered Thursday at a meeting of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) by Lyn Redwood, identified as a former leader of Children’s Health Defense, an organization co-founded by U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Slides from Redwood’s presentation, posted online ahead of the meeting, included a citation for a 2008 study allegedly published in the journal Neurotoxicology. The citation listed “Berman RF, et al” and the title “Low-level neonatal thimerosal exposure: Long-term consequences in the brain.” The presentation asserted that this study, supposedly conducted on newborn rats, indicated long-term “neuroimmune effects” linked to the vaccine preservative.
The Nonexistent Citation Questioned
Dr. Robert F. Berman, a professor emeritus whose research at the University of California Davis focuses on brain injury and neurodevelopmental disorders, was cited in the presentation. However, when contacted by CNN, Berman stated definitively, “I don’t have a publication in Neurotoxicology by that title.” He added that, to his knowledge, “The reference in the slide set, as far as I know – at least with me as a coauthor – does not exist.”
Berman confirmed he did publish a paper with a similar title in 2008, but it was in a different scientific journal (Toxicological Sciences), involved mice instead of rats, and critically, reached different conclusions. “My study… did not find evidence of thimerosal exposure at vaccine levels in mouse behaviors that we thought were relevant to autism,” Berman explained. He expressed being “concerned and displeased” that his research appeared to be misrepresented and cited incorrectly in the slides.
The citation error was first publicly flagged by Dr. David Boulware, an infectious diseases professor at the University of Minnesota. Boulware told CNN he sought to review the paper because the slide’s conclusion seemed “really strong and definitive,” but he was unable to locate the cited publication.
Following the report questioning the citation, Redwood’s presentation slides were later removed from the CDC website Tuesday and replaced with a version that omitted the reference to Berman’s alleged study.
Context: Thimerosal, Vaccine Safety, and the ACIP Panel
The inclusion of a presentation focused on thimerosal was already viewed as controversial by many public health experts. Thimerosal, which contains a form of mercury, was removed from most childhood vaccines around 25 years ago largely as a precautionary measure, not due to scientific evidence of harm. Despite claims from some advocacy groups, including those associated with the anti-vaccine movement, extensive scientific research has found no link between thimerosal in vaccines and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. Redwood herself has publicly stated her belief that thimerosal in pediatric vaccines contributed to her son’s autism.
The decision to add this topic as a last-minute agenda item for the ACIP meeting also drew scrutiny, particularly in light of recent significant changes to the panel’s composition. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently dismissed all 17 previous experts on the influential ACIP panel, citing conflicts of interest. He subsequently appointed eight new members days before this week’s meeting.
These new appointments have raised concerns within the public health community and across the political spectrum. Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana and a doctor who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, called for the ACIP meeting to be postponed. He argued the panel needed to be “fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation – as required by law – including those with more direct relevant expertise.”
This incident is not the first time publications or reports associated with Secretary Kennedy’s oversight realm have faced scrutiny over citation accuracy. The initial version of the “Make America Healthy Again” report, released last month by the Trump administration focusing on children’s health, was also found to include citations to studies that reportedly did not exist. At the time, an HHS spokesperson characterized these as “minor citation and formatting errors.”
During a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Tuesday, Representative Raul Ruiz, a California Democrat and doctor, questioned Secretary Kennedy about the MAHA report’s citation issues. “Why did the report include a citation to sources that don’t even exist?” Ruiz asked. “How does that happen under your leadership?” Kennedy defended the report, asserting that “all of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate” and reiterating that the citation errors were corrected swiftly, within 24 hours.
The controversy surrounding the thimerosal presentation’s citation adds another layer of debate to the ongoing discussions around vaccine safety, scientific integrity, and the composition of key federal advisory committees under new leadership.
