{"id":3318,"date":"2025-06-25T15:17:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/25\/presentation-for-cdc-advisers-appears-to-cite-nonexistent-study-to-support-claims-about-risk-of-vaccine-preservative\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T15:17:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T15:17:41","slug":"presentation-for-cdc-advisers-appears-to-cite-nonexistent-study-to-support-claims-about-risk-of-vaccine-preservative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/25\/presentation-for-cdc-advisers-appears-to-cite-nonexistent-study-to-support-claims-about-risk-of-vaccine-preservative\/","title":{"rendered":"Presentation for CDC advisers appears to cite nonexistent study to support claims about risk of vaccine preservative"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/action-bar\/instances\/cmcb532gq002j26ql3gzv5lv1@published\" 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<\/span><\/button>        <\/div>\n<div class=\"follow-topics-bar_overlay__fade follow-topics-bar_overlay__fade--hide\"><\/div>\n<p>                      See all topics              <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"action-bar__action-sheet--action\" data-title=\"share options\">\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/social-share\/instances\/cmcb532gq002m26qlcd7wg5c2@published\" class=\"social-share_labelled-list\">\n<div class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links vossi-social-share_labelled-list\" data-type=\"share-links\">        <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share\" data-url=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dialog\/share?app_id=80401312489&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2025%2F06%2F24%2Fhealth%2Fcdc-vaccine-adviser-thimerosal-presentation&amp;display=popup\" data-type=\"facebook\" aria-label=\"share with facebook\" title=\"Share with Facebook\">                                <span 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class=\"social-share_labelled-list__share-links--label\">Link<\/span>        <\/button>        <\/p>\n<div class=\"social-share_labelled-list__copied\" data-type=\"message\">                        Link Copied!        <\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>    <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__open\" data-type=\"open\" aria-label=\"open social share\" title=\"Open social share\">            <\/button>    <button class=\"social-share_labelled-list__close\" data-type=\"close\" aria-label=\"close social share\" title=\"Close social share\">            <\/button><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"action-bar__buttons\">            <button class=\"action-bar__button\" data-title=\"follow\">                                        Follow            <\/button>            <button class=\"action-bar__button\" data-title=\"share options\">                                <\/button>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb532gq002l26ql011jg5v4@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            A presentation slated to be shared at this week\u2019s meeting of vaccine advisers to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claimed that a study in animals suggested that use of the vaccine preservative thimerosal can have \u201clong-term consequences in the brain.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy300053b6mhva8aoph@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            But the study doesn\u2019t appear to exist.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy300063b6mp9ij0k6s@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Lyn Redwood, a former leader of Children\u2019s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group that lists US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a founder, is scheduled to give the presentation Thursday at a meeting of the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb5h42p000p3b6mpocu0zkx@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The slides, posted online Tuesday, cite a 2008 study in the journal Neurotoxicology by \u201cBerman RF, et al,\u201d called \u201cLow-level neonatal thimerosal exposure: Long-term consequences in the brain.\u201d The presentation claimed that results from a study in newborn rats suggest long-term \u201cneuroimmune effects\u201d from the vaccine preservative.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy400073b6mw04746ku@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The citation appears to refer to Dr. Robert F. Berman, a professor emeritus at the University of California Davis, whose research has focused on brain injury and neurodevelopmental disorders.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy400093b6m5lw9s5mg@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Berman did publish a paper<strong> <\/strong>with a similar title in 2008, but it was in a different journal and involved different animals. It also came to dramatically different conclusions.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy4000a3b6m6x3xtu07@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cMy study was published in Toxicological Sciences and did not find evidence of thimerosal exposure at vaccine levels in mouse behaviors that we thought were relevant to autism,\u201d Berman said. He was \u201cconcerned and displeased\u201d that his research appeared to have been cited in this way in Redwood\u2019s slides.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb7r8jp00003b6m43pfo8ee@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Redwood\u2019s presentation was taken off the CDC website later Tuesday and replaced with a version that does not include Berman\u2019s citation.    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/related-content\/instances\/cmcb541v3000l3b6mylxcgxfs@published\" data-component-name=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content-elevate related-content--article\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<header class=\"related-content__title related-content__title-text\" data-editable=\"content.title\">Related article<\/header>\n<section class=\"related-content__body\">\n<div class=\"related-content__image image__related-content\">\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmcaezkc6002d27p0ede2aie1@published\" class=\"image-elevate image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"c-GettyImages-2221878043.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--eq-large&quot;: 660}\" data-original-ratio=\"0.6754166666666667\" data-original-height=\"1621\" data-original-width=\"2400\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/c-gettyimages-2221878043.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--show-credits&quot;: 525}\">           <\/div>\n<div class=\"image__metadata-container media__metadata-container\">\n<div class=\"image__metadata media__metadata\">\n<div class=\"image__caption attribution\">    <span data-editable=\"metaCaption\" class=\"inline-placeholder\">US Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing pressure from lawmakers over his newly appointed vaccine panel that&#8217;s set to meet for the first time this week.<\/span>  <\/div><figcaption class=\"image__credit\">Kayla Bartkowski\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"related-content__headline\">        <span class=\"related-content__headline-text\" data-editable=\"content.headline\">Pressure builds on Kennedy\u2019s vaccine panel ahead of first meeting<\/span>      <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy4000d3b6mbqiry3wu@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The presentation already was controversial because thimerosal has been a focus of advocates who claim, against evidence, that it may cause autism because it contains a form of mercury. The preservative was taken out of most vaccines about 25 years ago as a precaution, and no evidence of neurodevelopmental effects has been found in multiple studies.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy4000e3b6mi043xz0y@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Redwood, though, said in a video posted last month on Children\u2019s Health Defense\u2019s website that she believes thimerosal in pediatric vaccines led to her son\u2019s autism.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy4000f3b6mko3vy6tr@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            The topic was a last-minute addition to the vaccine advisers\u2019 agenda this week, sparking concerns among public health experts that it would raise debunked claims about vaccine safety. It was added after Kennedy dismissed all 17 previous experts on the influential vaccine panel, claiming they had conflicts of interest, and replaced them days later with eight new members.    <\/p>\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/related-content\/instances\/cmcb7tqba00013b6mk0pvgloh@published\" data-component-name=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content-elevate related-content--article\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">\n<header class=\"related-content__title related-content__title-text\" data-editable=\"content.title\">Related article<\/header>\n<section class=\"related-content__body\">\n<div class=\"related-content__image image__related-content\">\n<div data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/image\/instances\/cmc9dgb8200tz28qe3kdi0he6@published\" class=\"image-elevate image__hide-placeholder\" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-name=\"AP22109760205098.jpg\" data-component-name=\"image\" data-observe-resizes=\"\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--eq-large&quot;: 660}\" data-original-ratio=\"0.6668\" data-original-height=\"1667\" data-original-width=\"2500\" data-url=\"https:\/\/media.cnn.com\/api\/v1\/images\/stellar\/prod\/ap22109760205098-20250623164058249.jpg?c=original\" data-editable=\"settings\">\n<div class=\"image__container \" data-image-variation=\"image\" data-breakpoints=\"{&quot;image--eq-extra-small&quot;: 115, &quot;image--eq-small&quot;: 300, &quot;image--show-credits&quot;: 525}\">           <\/div>\n<div class=\"image__metadata-container media__metadata-container\">\n<div class=\"image__metadata media__metadata\">\n<div class=\"image__caption attribution\">    <span data-editable=\"metaCaption\" class=\"inline-placeholder\">The CDC&#8217;s new panel of vaccine advisers will hear a presentation on thimerosal in flu vaccines from a former leader of Children&#8217;s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/span>  <\/div><figcaption class=\"image__credit\">Ron Harris\/AP\/FILE<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"related-content__headline\">        <span class=\"related-content__headline-text\" data-editable=\"content.headline\">Former leader of anti-vaccine group founded by RFK Jr. to present at first meeting of new CDC vaccine advisers<\/span>      <\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb55sv80000356ma5tol2ow@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Those members have raised concerns from the public health world and across the political spectrum, with Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana doctor who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, calling this week for the meeting to be postponed \u201cuntil the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation \u2013 as required by law \u2013 including those with more direct relevant expertise.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy4000g3b6mjo87tkdz@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            It\u2019s also not the first time a report in Kennedy\u2019s realm has been found to have faulty citations. The initial version of the Trump administration\u2019s Make America Healthy Again report, released last month and focused on children\u2019s health, also cited some studies that don\u2019t exist. An HHS spokesperson called them \u201cminor citation and formatting errors.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb53sy4000h3b6m6rms8a16@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            In a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee on Tuesday, Kennedy was questioned by Rep. Raul Ruiz, a Democrat and doctor from California, about the MAHA report errors.    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb5awta0002356mkfeth9e2@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            \u201cWhy did the report include a citation to sources that don\u2019t even exist?\u201d Ruiz asked. \u201cHow does that happen under your leadership?\u201d    <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph-elevate inline-placeholder vossi-paragraph\" data-uri=\"cms.cnn.com\/_components\/paragraph\/instances\/cmcb5r7yr0007356mklq936wk@published\" data-editable=\"text\" data-component-name=\"paragraph\" data-article-gutter=\"true\">            Kennedy insisted that \u201call of the foundational assertions in that report are accurate\u201d and said the mistaken citations \u201cwere corrected within 24 hours.\u201d    <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div>This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vaccines Federal agencies Children&#8217;s health Disability issues See all topics Facebook Tweet Email Link Link&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}