Three studies used by RFK Jr and allies to justify controversial vaccine policy changes facing new scrutiny

Members of the scientific community have been raising concerns about the paper since immediately after it was published. Top and other scientists wrote about some of its methodological issues within days of publication. In an email, Top said in the six years since then, the paper had been cited in other studies and used to justify changes to vaccine policy and undermine confidence in vaccines, “likely contributing to decreased vaccination rates and outbreaks of serious preventable infections, like measles and whooping cough”.

Top called for the publisher and editors to conduct a thorough review of the peer review process and their response to the previous complaints, and to commit to improving the timeliness of their response in future.