Mr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., United States Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS), has stated that government scientists who publish in a number of leading journals may be blocked for presenting medical research, due to concerns of conflicts-of-interest. A podcast interview by Mr. Gary Brecka, a “health influencer” and seller of wellness products, with Mr. Robert F. Kennedy, aired on May 27th, 2025 (called “The Ultimate Human”, https://www.youtube.com/@ultimatehumanpodcast), has reported the discussion in The Guardian newspaper and several media outlets. The three specific journals criticised were The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Mr. Kennedy is the top health official in the US government administration, overseeing a $1.8 trillion budget, covering 13 medical and science agencies, including the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), NIH (National Institutes of Health), the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) andthe Centres for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), which provide Medicare, Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act health supports. Rather than publishing research by US scientists of the three journals (The Lancet, NEJM, JAMA), the Health & Human Services administration may instead launch new government-led journals. Mr. Kennedy stated that, “we’re probably going to stop publishing in the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, Jama and those other journals, because they’re all corrupt. Unless those journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing in them and we’re going to create our own journals ‘in-house’.”
As EURETINA members know, The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) are long-standing medical and scientific journals, originally established in 1823, 1812 and 1883, respectively. The research journals provide a wide range of medical and clinical publications, including ophthalmology, with significant rankings, or impact factors (IF). The current impact factor for The Lancet is 98.4, ranked #3, NEJM’s impact factor is 96.2, ranked #4 and JAMA’s impact factor is 63.5, ranked #10. As of writing, there have been no specific comments to date from Mr. Kennedy’s remarks from representatives of The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), or the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
In the current research environment, the work and efforts are generally authored by multiple affiliations shared across the globe, and such international expertise often strengthens the validity of knowledge that serves patients and the public. To block such journals (The Lancet, NEJM, JAMA) data will likely impact the value of US research, potentially required to publish in HHS government ‘in-house’ periodicals. This may be immensely disruptive in an international cross-border current research and clinical trial environment. Commenting in The Washington Post newspaper (accessed 29/5/2025), Dr. Adam Gaffney, MD, a public health researcher and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School stated that, “banning NIH-funded researchers from publishing in leading medical journals and requiring them to publish only in journals that carry the RFK Jr seal of approval would delegitimize taxpayer-funded research.” In the podcast with Mr. Kennedy, there appears to be is a disconnect between the blocking of peer reviewed publicly-funded US scientists, due to alleged conflicts-of-interest and corruption on certain journals, on the one hand, while simultaneously issuing government policy through a private podcast advertising wellness products, with little or no peer review or independence. While conflicts-of-interest are not new in any endeavour of society, reform and improvements are likely to be a preferable course, rather than jettison such long-standing journals entirely. Independent regulation, under-pinned by rigorous evidence-based decision making, should improve research integrity for all stakeholders. The EURETINA Brief will follow for any updates and follow up in due course.