A major U.S. government report on child health is under fire after it cited multiple studies that don’t exist.
The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, released last week, was produced by a 14-member federal commission led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. It was meant to be a “historic” step in understanding chronic illness in kids. Instead, it’s facing serious credibility issues.
The report listed over 500 research studies to back its claims that chemicals, processed food, stress, and even vaccines could be driving health problems in American children.
But journalists at NOTUS discovered that at least seven of those studies weren’t real. Reuters confirmed two of them. Some citations led to broken links. Others completely misrepresented the research. This has sparked public concern about whether the government leaned on artificial intelligence to compile the report.
“Formatting Issues” or AI Fictions?
When pressed, the White House said the fake studies were the result of “formatting issues.” The Department of Health and Human Services doubled down, saying the MAHA report is still a “transformative assessment.” But experts are skeptical.
“This was rushed,” said Marion Nestle, nutrition professor emerita at NYU. “And the citation problem suggests a reliance on AI.” Katherine Keyes, a professor at Columbia University, was stunned to find herself falsely cited in the report.
She said she never wrote the paper the report linked to her name. A similar thing happened to Professor Robert Findling of Virginia Commonwealth University.
By Thursday night, those fake studies were removed from the online report. No clear explanation was given.
Why This Matters
If AI was involved, it wouldn’t be the first time. Since tools like ChatGPT went mainstream, “AI hallucinations”—false or invented facts—have shown up in everything from news articles to court documents.
But this is different. This is a federal health report. It’s shaping public opinion—and possibly policy—on children’s health. Misleading data isn’t just embarrassing. It’s dangerous.
And let’s not forget: RFK Jr. has a long record of pushing vaccine skepticism, which puts even more weight on the accuracy of anything with his name on it.
The Real Risk: Trust
For regular folks, this whole mess raises one big question: Can we trust what our government is publishing? In a time when misinformation spreads like wildfire, citing fake science—AI or not—feels reckless.
If AI really did help write this thing, maybe it’s time we asked who’s holding the pen—and who’s being held accountable.
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