By I. Edwards HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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THURSDAY, June 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) \u2014 A presentation scheduled for a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine meeting today claimed that a vaccine preservative could cause long-term brain effects \u2014 but the study it cited doesn\u2019t appear to exist.<\/p>\n
The slide, posted online Tuesday, cited a 2008 paper titled “Low-level neonatal thimerosal exposure: Long-term consequences in the brain,” and was said to have been published in the journal Neurotoxicology<\/em>.<\/p>\n The slide said the research showed that thimerosal, a vaccine preservative, caused lasting brain changes in rats, CNN <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n But the scientist named on the slide, Robert Berman<\/a> of the University of California-Davis, says he never wrote such a paper.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have a publication in Neurotoxicology<\/em> by that title,\u201d Berman told CNN<\/em>. \u201cThe reference in the slide set, as far as I know \u2013 at least with me as a coauthor \u2013 does not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Berman did publish a similar-sounding study<\/a> in 2008, but it was in Toxicological Sciences<\/em>, involved mice \u2014 not rats \u2014 and came to a dramatically different conclusion, CNN <\/em>said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy study was published in Toxicological Sciences<\/em> and did not find evidence of thimerosal exposure at vaccine levels in mouse behaviors that we thought were relevant to autism<\/a>,\u201d Berman said.<\/p>\n He added that he was \u201cconcerned and displeased\u201d that his research was cited incorrectly.<\/p>\n The CDC quickly removed the original presentation and replaced it with a new version that doesn’t include the citation.<\/p>\n The error was first noticed by Dr. David Boulware<\/a>, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota, who told CNN<\/em> that he tried to find the paper but couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n The presentation was scheduled to be given by Lyn Redwood<\/a>, a registered nurse and former leader of Children\u2019s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group.<\/p>\n It lists U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr<\/a>. as a founder.<\/p>\n Redwood is scheduled to present at the CDC\u2019s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting today. Neither she nor HHS immediately responded to CNN\u2019s<\/em> request for comment.<\/p>\n Thimerosal has long been a focus of false claims linking vaccines to autism. But studies have shown no such link. In fact, thimerosal was taken out of most vaccines about 25 years ago, and research has not found it to cause any harm in relation to vaccines.<\/p>\n Redwood has said in a video<\/a> on Children\u2019s Health Defense\u2019s website that she believes thimerosal led to her son\u2019s autism.<\/p>\n The thimerosal topic was added to the vaccine advisers\u2019 agenda at the last minute, raising concerns that the panel might give attention to debunked claims.<\/p>\n The controversy comes after Kennedy removed all 17 members<\/a> of the vaccine panel, saying they had conflicts of interest. He replaced them with eight new members, many of whom are vaccine skeptics.<\/p>\n Many public health leaders say this move is troubling. U.S. Sen, Bill Cassidy<\/a> of Louisiana, a doctor and Republican who chairs the Senate Health Committee, said the meeting should be delayed until the panel has more balanced representation, CNN <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time Kennedy\u2019s team has been linked to incorrect citations. A recent report from the Trump-era \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d initiative also included references to studies that couldn\u2019t be verified.<\/p>\n When asked about it during a congressional hearing, Kennedy said the claims in the report were accurate and that the citation errors \u201cwere corrected within 24 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n More information<\/strong><\/p>\n Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has more on vaccines and autism<\/a>.<\/p>\n