Is a journal hiding the link between vaccines and SIDS?

HHS Secretary RFK Jr. recently sent a letter to a journal that had published an article that claimed vaccines cause SIDS, but later retracted the article. In the letter, RFK Jr. says he cares about “research integrity and academic freedom.” He asks the journal to explain why it removed the article.

The journal explained why the article was removed. It said there were serious problems with the way the author, Neil Z Miller, used VAERS data to suggest a link between vaccination and sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.

In fact, the best studies do not show that vaccines cause SIDS. Some studies found no change in SIDS risk after vaccines. Other studies found that babies who got vaccines had a lower risk of SIDS. Experts do not say vaccines prevent SIDS because families who vaccinate on time may also do other things that lower risk. But the evidence does not show that vaccines raise the risk of SIDS.

Miller using VAERS is a problem, of course. VAERS is a vaccine safety reporting system. Doctors, patients, and family members can use it to report health problems that happen after a vaccine. These reports are important because they help experts look for possible safety concerns. But a VAERS report does not prove that a vaccine caused the problem. It only means the health problem happened sometime after vaccination. More study is needed to find out whether the vaccine played a role.

This is why VAERS data must be used carefully. VAERS reports do not prove cause and effect. Reports may be incomplete, incorrect, coincidental, or hard to verify, so experts must study them with stronger research methods before drawing conclusions.

The journal said the article’s conclusions were not supported by the method used. Because the article could affect medical decisions, the editor decided it should be removed.