RFK Jr.'s error-filled MAHA report sparks speculation it was written by AI
Last week, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. proudly boasted about the findings of a 73-page report from the Presidential Commission to Make America Healthy Again that took what was supposed to be an unvarnished look at the health of the nation's children.
'We will end the childhood chronic disease crisis by attacking its root causes head-on—not just managing its symptoms,' Kennedy said in a statement.
'We will follow the truth wherever it leads, uphold rigorous science, and drive bold policies that put the health, development, and future of every child first,' he continued. 'I'm grateful to President [Donald] Trump for his leadership—and for trusting me to lead this fight to root out corruption, restore scientific integrity, and reclaim the health of our children.'
But new reporting suggests that the document misinterprets some of the studies that underpin it, and cites others that don't even exist, the authors told NOTUS, a nonprofit news website that covers national politics and government.
For instance, epidemiologist Katherien Keyes is listed in the report as the first author of a study on how anxiety affects adolescents. When NOTUS contacted her for comment, she was 'surprised' to hear about the citation, the website reported.
Whiley Keyes does study mental health and substance use, she didn't write the paper, according to NOTUS.
'The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with,' Keyes told NOTUS via email. 'We've certainly done research on this topic, but did not publish a paper in JAMA Pediatrics on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title.'
Separate reporting by USA TODAY found that the report had misinterpreted a cited article written by Mariana Figueiro, a professor at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine.
The government's report had cited Figuerio's study as evidence of the harmful effects that electronic devices can have on children's sleep, NYMag's Intelligencer reported.
But according to Figueiro herself, the study had focused on college students. And it measured 'melatonin suppression,' according to USA TODAY.
'The study is ours, but unfortunately, the conclusions in the report are not accurate and the journal reference is incorrect,' Figueiro told USA TODAY in an email. 'We have other papers on the topic… but again, none of them were performed with children.'
During a Thursday news conference, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly downplayed NOTUS's findings on the MAHA report and stood behind it.
Still, The New York Times reported that the original version of the report had been taken down and replaced with an updated one, according to NYMag's Intelligencer.
The pratfalls, in turn, sparked speculation that RFK Jr.'s team at HHS had used AI to compile the document.
New York University expert Ivan Oransky told the Times that he couldn't say for sure that AI had been used for the report, but it did remind him of instances where it had been employed elsewhere.
'We've seen this particular movie before, and it's unfortunately much more common in scientific literature than people would like or than really it should be,' he told the newspaper.
Leavitt punted to RFK Jr. when she was asked whether AI had been used to compile the report.
'I can't speak to that,' she said, according to NYMag.
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