Lawmakers demand answers over alleged fabrications in MAHA health report

(NATIONAL) The MAHA Report: Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment, initially released on May 22, is under scrutiny for alleged factual errors and fabricated sources. 

Three Democratic members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are demanding answers from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following the discovery of multiple inaccuracies in the report. 

Representatives Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Diana DeGette (D-CO), and Yvette Clark (D-NY) sent a letter to Kennedy requesting a list of AI tools used to create the report, as well as clarification on the research policies that guided its development.

The report was called into question after the news outlet NOTUS published an article on May 29 highlighting numerous errors. In their letter to Kennedy, the representatives wrote: 

“Shortly after the Commission released the Report, reporters from NOTUS published an article identifying numerous deeply concerning flaws with the sources cited in the Report, including mischaracterization of science, erroneous identification of authors and journals, and–most concerningly–outright fabrication of non-existent sources.”

The letter also points out that the term ‘oaicite,’ a citation tag associated with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, appeared in the report’s footnotes.

The MAHA report, which is available online, covers topics such as environmental chemicals, chronic stress, ‘overmedicalization,’ and poor diet in children. 

The White House has responded to the allegations, calling the issues ‘formatting errors.’

A revised version of the report was published on May 29. However, Pallone, DeGette, and Clark note that the updated version does not indicate what corrections were made. 

The letter continues:

“These numerous, fundamental errors in the Report demonstrate a serious lack of scientific rigor and a flawed process designed to deliver conclusions that align with your personal views rather than the evidence. A review of the numerous errors found in the Report also raises the question of what extent AI tools were used to research and draft it without adequate oversight or policies to ensure accuracy. While you have said that you believe in ‘radical transparency,’ so far, you have not explained how these egregious errors were included in the initial version of the Report or why you have allowed misstatements of scientific findings to remain in the current version of the Report.”

Some of the articles cited in the original version of the report that the lawmakers claim do not exist include:

Chronic Stress and Inflammation: The Role of Cytokines in Metabolic Diseases

Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Psychotropic Drugs for Youth: A Growing Concern

Changes in Mental Health and Substance Use Among U.S. Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The lawmakers also claim that some authors cited in the revised report their work has been misrepresented. 

Pallone, DeGette, and Clark asked Kennedy to respond to the concerns outlined in their letter by July 1. They have also asked whether further revisions to the report are planned. 

The full letter is available here.