After a watchdog investigation revealed fake citations in the “Make America Healthy Again” report, the White House updated the report without admitting fault.
Margaret Manto reports for NOTUS.
In short:
- At least seven citations in the original “MAHA” report were found to be nonexistent, prompting a stealth update from the White House.
- The revised version swapped out fake references for real ones, though it’s unclear if the replacements support the report’s claims.
- Despite these corrections, the White House and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. continue to defend the report’s scientific integrity.
Key quote:
“Minor citation and formatting errors have been corrected, but the substance of the MAHA report remains the same.”
— Emily Hilliard, Health and Human Services spokesperson
Why this matters:
It's worth noting that the revelations about the MAHA report's erroneous and non-existent citations come just days after Kennedy said federal scientists may be banned from publishing in the world’s most respected medical journals, calling them "corrupt" and planning to replace them with government-run alternatives.
Health policy decisions are only as strong as the science behind them. When official reports include fake or erroneous citations — even if later corrected — it undermines public trust, especially in an era of rampant misinformation and rising chronic disease in kids. Public health is already under siege from misinformation and a legacy of broken promises, and swapping out footnotes without accountability furthers distrust.
