MAHA Report: Mistakes in citations, a new movie version, criticism of claims

_{© The White House}

If time is too tight to read the 73-page Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Report, no problem — there’s a movie version now.

Meanwhile, the report has wrong information in its diagnosis for the nation’s diet and use of medicines and chemicals, according to analysts checking its citations and studies. But defenders of President Donald J. Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. say those errors don’t negate arguments that ultraprocessed foods and pharmaceuticals are making Americans’ sicker, not well.

MAHA Report movie

“Toxic Nation — The Movie” is available online from MAHA Films. It is not an official production of the HHS Department, but it features Kennedy as its opening presenter.

“In the 1960s the chronic disease rate among Americans was about 6%. By 2006, 54% of children had chronic disease,” Kennedy said in the documentary. “And this is a devastating pandemic and of course the regulatory agencies do not want to look at this issue because the entities that are creating these toxic exposures are politically powerful.”

The movie is subtitled “From Fluoride to Seed Oils: How We Got Here, Who Profits, and What You Can Do.” It includes footage of Kennedy’s nomination hearings earlier this year, with commentary from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin).

Kennedy’s nomination was a close call, Johnson said.

“But there is a huge effort by the pharmaceutical industry, by other interests, to block individuals like Bobby Kennedy,” he said. “They just don’t want people asking the questions.

“They don’t want to know the root cause of chronic illness because if we find out what it is, or what the factors are, that could disrupt the multi-billion-dollar business models of all kinds of different industries,” Johnson said. Those who pay for research get the results they want, Johnson said, and that has led to corruption in federal government study.

In the film, adviser Calley Means, a former lobbyist for the food and pharmaceutical industry, noted the National Institutes of Health for years has focused on infectious disease. But chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes are destroying the American populace while government researchers have turned a blind eye to those, Means said.

Inaccuracies in the report

The Make America Health Again Report has wrong information in its prescription for the nation’s diet and use of medicines and chemicals, according to online news outlet NOTUS. That outlet’s reporting has been picked up and expanded by additional media outlets.

As of May 29, NOTUS reported “seven of the cited sources don’t appear to exist at all.”

“As the Trump administration cuts research funding for federal health agencies and academic institutions and rejects the scientific consensus on issues like vaccines and gender-affirming care, the issues with its much-heralded MAHA report could indicate lessening concern for scientific accuracy at the highest levels of the federal government,” the NOTUS report said.

Those errors were a “disservice” to the Trump administration and Kennedy, Means said in a report cited by The Hill. That outlet said Means is the brother of Casey Means, MD, the president’s nominee to serve as surgeon general.

“Just to be super direct on the report, it was a great disservice to President Trump and Bobby Kennedy that that report had some errors in its citations,” Means told NewsNation’s “On Balance” host Leland Vittert, as reported by The Hill. “I think the reason it’s primetime is because of the content of the report.

“There was not one word of the MAHA report that was factually corrected — a couple footnote errors,” he added.

Autism and MAHA

Farm advocates were some of the earliest critics to say the administration wrongly blamed America’s growers for causing the nation’s health problems. Since then, various organizations have continued to publish reactions and responses to the MAHA Report.

The Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) condemned the report and the MAHA aim to lower the rate of autism and other chronic conditions in the nation.

“Lowering the rate of autism is not possible given that autism is a hereditary development disability,” the ASAN response said.

“Much of what the report talks about is not actually a problem,” the ASAN response said. “It presumes that a condition getting diagnosed more often, or more people getting care for it, must mean that the condition is getting more common or getting worse. The truth is that in many cases there have been improvements to the accessibility of health care, as well as improved criteria for diagnosis.”

‘How is the American diet to improve…?’

The report used selective data “to support the idiosyncratic biases of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,” said a statement from Peter G. Lurie, MD, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Even the report’s good ideas, such as increasing consumption of whole, unprocessed foods, are at odds with efforts of Kennedy, the president, Department of Government Efficiency former leader and tech billionaire Elon Musk, and Republicans in Congress, Lurie said.

“How is the American diet to improve when Republicans are hell-bent on cutting SNAP benefits, slashing school meals, ripping millions of Americans from their health insurance coverage, withdrawing proposed rules that would reduce foodborne Salmonella, and laying off food inspectors?” Lurie wrote, referring to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

‘Evidence-based nutrition care’

Based on the food analysis of the report, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) issued a statement reaffirming its “mission is to promote improved health and well-being through evidence-based nutrition care, education and support for positive behavior change.”

“Our members — registered dietitian nutritionists and nutrition and dietetics technicians, registered — bring critical expertise to these efforts, helping individuals, families and communities make informed choices about nutrition and health, especially among children,” the AND statement said. “We are reviewing the report’s findings and recommendations carefully and will continue to advocate for the use of sound science and evidence in the decision-making process going forward.”