Govind Tekale
The White House quietly replaced last week’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report after review revealed several cited studies either didn’t exist or were misinterpreted. Officials acknowledged “minor citation and formatting errors” and posted corrected versions online—just as a $500 million funding request for MAHA initiatives heads to Congress.
Report Errors Raise Questions
On May 22, 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services released the 72-page MAHA report, fulfilling a 100-day mandate from President Trump’s February Executive Order 14212. The commission, chaired by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aimed to assess childhood chronic disease, mental health, and environmental exposures.
Investigative nonprofit NOTUS found at least seven citations among the report’s over 500 references that couldn’t be located in any peer-reviewed journal. Dr. Katherine Keyes, cited as the first author of a study on anxiety in adolescents, confirmed to news outlets she never wrote the paper referenced in the report.
“I was surprised to see what seems to be an error in the citation of my work in the report, and it does make me concerned given that citation practices are an important part of conducting and rigorous science,” Keyes wrote in an email to ABC News.
Some research journals, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and JAMA Pediatrics, confirmed they couldn’t find certain papers cited in the MAHA report in their publications.
White House Response
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt described the issues as “formatting errors” that have been addressed. She told reporters the citation issues did not “negate the substance of the report” and that the administration had “complete confidence in Secretary Kennedy and his team at HHS.”
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon confirmed a corrected PDF is now available on the department’s Radical Transparency portal. “Minor citation and formatting errors have been corrected, but the substance of the MAHA report remains the same—a historic and transformative assessment by the federal government to understand the chronic disease epidemic afflicting our nation’s children,” Nixon said in an emailed statement.
An analysis of the revised report indicates some language was adjusted in the corrected version. (Note: specific wording changes are pending verification from primary sources)
Scientific Standards and Historical Context
The MAHA report’s handling differs from traditional federal health report practices. Previous landmark documents—such as the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking—were drafted by named expert panels and underwent multi-stage public review before publication.
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The initial MAHA document named no authors beyond Secretary Kennedy, bypassing standard peer-review transparency protocols.
Health Data Reality Check
The report covers topics including diet, environmental exposures, screen time, and prescription drug use among children.
“Under President Trump‘s leadership, we are beginning to rip the veil off decades of deceit, restore scientific integrity, and reclaim our birthright: a healthy, thriving nation,” Kennedy said in the official release.
The CDC reports autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence is now 32.2 per 1,000 eight-year-olds (1 in 31), increased from 1 in 150 in 2000. Health experts attribute this rise largely to broader screening practices rather than sudden environmental causes.
The American Academy of Pediatrics continues to endorse on-time immunization for all children as the “safest and most cost-effective” approach, with AAP policy explicitly rejecting non-medical exemptions.
Funding and Congressional Oversight
The White House has requested $500 million in the FY 2026 budget to implement MAHA recommendations—covering nutrition, physical activity, healthy lifestyles, over-reliance on medication, technological habits, environmental impacts, food and drug quality/safety.
The administration has highlighted the importance of addressing chronic disease in children through these initiatives.
Citation Management Solutions
Federal health agencies could prevent similar miscitation issues by implementing reference-management tools with automatic validation. NIH’s electronic Research Administration (eRA) system already auto-validates grant application metadata—a similar pre-publication check could flag missing or incorrect references.
Public Health Trust at Stake
The incident raises questions about maintaining public confidence in federal health guidance. The corrected document is available on HHS’s Radical Transparency site, with Congressional review of the proposed $500 million funding expected later this year.
