Propublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates power abuse. Sign up and receive the biggest story as soon as it’s published.
Employees at the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, received internal guidance last week to flag manuscripts, presentations, or other communications for scrutiny if they addressed a “controversial, well-known or sensitive” topic. Among the 23 hot button issues, vaccines, fluoride, peanut allergies and autism, according to internal records reviewed by Propublica.
It is not uncommon for Cancer Institutes to outline some management priorities, but it states that the scope and size of the list is unprecedented and extremely rare. Records show that all materials must be reviewed by the Institute “Clearance Team” and can be inspected by staff members of the NIH or its umbrella ministry of health and human resources.
Staff and experts were worried that the directive would delay or halt the publication of the research. “This is micromanagement at the highest level,” said Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.
The list touches on the personal priorities of longtime anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeatedly promoted medical conspiracy theories and false claims. He has advanced the idea that autism growth rates are related to vaccines. This is an assertion that has been exposed by hundreds of scientific research. He also suggests that aluminum in the vaccine is responsible for childhood allergies (his son is reportedly severely allergic to peanuts). And he argues that water fluorination is “industrial waste,” which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls “one of the 10 biggest public health outcomes of the 20th century.”
At a confirmation hearing in January, Kennedy said he was not “anti-vaccine” and as a secretary, not discouraged people from getting vaccinated for measles and polio, but he dodged questions about autism and vaccine links.
Another term on the list, “Cancer Moonshot,” refers to a program launched by President Barack Obama in 2016. This was a Biden administration’s priority, with the aim of the program being at least half-half, preventing deaths of more than 4 million people.
“It’s an unusual mix of words that this administration has tied to its activities during the war. A word intended to support doing something not just like fairness, but also ultra-highly processed foods,” San Francisco, director of the University of California’s environmental programs, said in an email.
It is said that directives on topics requiring prior public review at the National Cancer Institute are being distributed by the agency’s communications team. Credit: Get by Propublica
The guidance states that staff “doesn’t need to share content explaining everyday science behaviour, not attracting much media attention, not controversial or sensitive, and not touching on management priorities.”
A longtime senior employee of the institute said the directive is being distributed by the institute’s communications team and that the content has not been discussed at the leadership level. It is not clear which directives occurred which exact office. NCI, NIH, and HHS did not respond to questions via Propublica email. (The list’s existence was first revealed in a social media post on Friday.)
Health and research experts told Propublica they fear the calm effects of the new guidance. Not only can it lead to longer and more complicated clearance processes, it could also allow researchers to censor their work out of fear and respect for the administration’s priorities.
“This is a real interference in the scientific process,” said Linda Birnbaum, former director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, who has been a federal scientist for 40 years. The list “feels like a threat from my brother,” she said.
During the first two months of Donald Trump’s second presidency, his administration drastically cut funding to research institutions and halted the NIH grant application process.
US Housing Agency is considering starting cryptographic experiments
Kennedy suggested that hundreds of NIH staff should be fired, and said the lab should strip out infections like Covid-19 and shift the focus to chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
Obesity is on the new NCI list, as are infections such as Covid-19, avian flu and measles.
Woodruff writes, “There is concern that it will focus on avian flu and the Covid.” “Being not transparent with the public about infectious diseases can make them worse because they can’t stop or disappear.”
