The report takes from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s playbook, calling out rising autism rates, the vaccine schedule and over medication of children as reasons for chronic diseases.
The Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again report blames chronic childhood diseases on poor diet, environmental chemicals, a lack of physical activity, stress and over medication. The 73-page report places some of the blame for the cumulative problem on pharma companies for aggressive lobbying and the “corporate capture of medical knowledge.”
The MAHA report, released Thursday afternoon, takes from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s playbook. It points to rising autism rates—which experts have said are caused by rising rates of detection, rather than incidence of the developmental disorder—as well as increasing diabetes and obesity in children.
The report states that pharma companies spent $4.7 billion on lobbying between 1999 and 2018, more than any other industry. It also points out that 9 out of the 10 past FDA commissioners have gone on to work for industry, while 70% of medical reviewers did the same. Pharma companies also spend billions to fund clinical departments, teaching hospitals and patient advocacy groups.
This is referred to as the “corporate capture of medical knowledge” in the report. “Corporate capture entails the systematic distortion of scientific literature, regulatory processes, clinical practices, and public discourse by pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, all aimed at maximizing profits. These mechanisms illustrate a trajectory from initial research to pervasive market saturation and narrative control,” according to the report.
When visiting FDA headquarters for the first time as secretary in April, Kennedy blasted agency staff and accused them of being a “sock puppet” to the pharma industry.
The report lays out next steps, including a National Institutes of Health (NIH) initiative to “confront the replication crisis” to improve the reproducibility of science and research into childhood diseases; establish a real-word safety data monitoring system for pediatric drugs and “create programs to independently replicate findings from industry-funded studies”; expand the NIH and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ autism initiative started by Kennedy; large-scale lifestyle interventions; long-term drug safety research of neurodevelopmental and metabolic outcomes of commonly prescribed pediatric drugs; and alternative preclinical testing models, among other recommendations.
“If you look at that MAHA document that just came out, 70 page document, I mean, it’s just full of distrust,” Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, told BioSpace. “It’s just hubris.”
Pharma Influence
The report claims that children are over medicated, with one in five estimated to be receiving a prescription medicine in the past 30 days. A list of common childhood ailments and the medicines prescribed for them, from antibiotics to antidepressants and asthma drugs, follows.
But the report takes specific aim at the growing use of GLP-1 drugs in children to treat obesity, claiming this was “influenced” by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which provided clinical guidance for the treatment of children who are overweight or obese in January 2023. The MAHA report characterizes this recommendation, as well as the use of surgery, as “strong.”
Kennedy’s long term fight against vaccines is also prominent in the report, particularly the vaccine schedule. It calls into question the safety of vaccines and suggests that “more rigorous clinical trial designs” are needed to examine any links to chronic disease from vaccine use, including the use of “true placebos,” larger sample sizes and longer follow up.
“Many vaccines on the CDC’s childhood schedule involved small participant groups, had no inert placebo-controlled trials, and had limited safety monitoring, some lasting six months or less—raising concerns about the ability to detect rare or long-term adverse effects,” the report claims.
On May 1, HHS rolled out a new policy requiring vaccines to be tested in placebo-controlled trials prior to approval. Vaccines for new pathogens are already tested against placebo, while new products for pathogens with an existing vaccine available are typically tested against that standard of care. HHS has not yet clarified which shots it would target with the new policy. Leerink Partners said in a note following the placebo guidance that “placebo-controlled trials are unnecessary and unethical for many populations,” and “the world will look to other countries’ health authorities as the gold standards for vaccine testing.”
Kennedy has falsely suggested a link between vaccines to autism, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by experts. The report does not revive this claim but does suggest that food colorings could be a culprit.
During a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions last week, Kennedy backed off his prior recommendation of certain vaccines like the measles shot. He also earlier this month falsely suggested that vaccines contain “fetal debris.”
The MAHA report also takes aim at pharmaceutical marketing, suggesting that direct-to-consumer advertising influences children.
“While in the U.S. the pharmaceutical industry has the First Amendment right to have these advertisements, studies suggest that they have a strong influence on those who view them, potentially increasing inappropriate prescriptions,” the report states.
