The Make America Healthy Again Commission report was updated on May 29 after some studies cited in the original version were found not to exist.
“Minor citation and formatting errors have been corrected, but the substance of the MAHA report remains the same—a historic and transformative assessment by the federal government to understand the chronic disease epidemic afflicting our nation’s children," a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told The Epoch Times in an email.
That included papers the commission said showed about a fifth of adolescents reported symptoms of anxiety in 2021; that direct-to-consumer advertising for drugs for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) listed vague symptoms and led parents to overestimate the prevalence of ADHD and inappropriately request ADHD drugs; and that such advertising for antidepressants in teenagers also employed vague symptoms that resulted in inappropriate parental requests for antidepressants.
One paper, for instance, was said to be titled "Changes in mental health and substance use among US adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic" and published by JAMA Pediatrics in the 12th issue of its 176th edition.
“The paper cited is not a real paper that I or my colleagues were involved with,” Keyes said. “We’ve certainly done research on this topic, but did not publish a paper in JAMA Pediatrics on this topic with that co-author group, or with that title.”
On Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters during a White House briefing that "some formatting issues with the MAHA report" are being addressed and the report will be updated.
"But it does not negate the substance of the report," Leavitt said. "Which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government and is backed on good science that has never been recognized by the government."
The commission plans to issue a follow-up report in August, Kennedy has said.
Leavitt told reporters on Thursday, "We have complete confidence in Secretary Kennedy and his team."
When asked how the report was compiled and whether artificial intelligence had been used in the process, Leavitt said, “I can’t speak to that."
"I’d defer you to the Department of Health and Human Services. What I know is just what I told you," she said.