HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ban government scientists from publishing in top medical journals

By lauraharris // 2025-06-02

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to prohibit NIH scientists from publishing in leading medical journals like The Lancet, NEJM and JAMA, calling them "corrupt" and influenced by pharmaceutical interests.
Kennedy intends to create NIH-backed, in-house journals that prioritize data transparency, publish peer reviews and require study replication, aiming to make them the new standard for scientific publishing.
Kennedy cited past critiques from former editors of The Lancet and NEJM, who warned that industry influence has compromised the integrity of medical research.
Kennedy's statements follow the Trump administration's Making America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, which challenges conventional medical practices and expresses concern about over-medication in children.
Experts warn that the administration's actions, including deep NIH budget cuts and policy shifts, could undermine the credibility of U.S. science and dismantle foundational research institutions.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced his plans to prohibit government scientists from publishing research in leading peer-reviewed medical journals, including The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The journals, some of the oldest and most widely respected in the field, have been instrumental in disseminating peer-reviewed medical research globally since the 19th century. NEJM, founded in 1812, and The Lancet, founded in 1823, are considered foundational to evidence-based medicine. JAMA, the flagship journal of the American Medical Association, alone receives more than 30 million visits to its website annually. However, in an episode of "The Ultimate Human" podcast released May 27, Kennedy said the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will likely redirect scientific publishing efforts into new, government-run journals that he claims will be "more rigorous, transparent and independent" than the existing outlets. (Related: Donald Trump nominates Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as HHS secretary, giving him control over the FDA, CDC, NIH and other agencies.) "We're going to devote probably 20 percent of NIH's budget to replication; every study has to be replicated. We're going to publish the peer review for the first time. We are probably going to stop publishing in The Lancet, the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA and those other journals because they are all corrupt," Kennedy said. Kennedy referenced longtime criticisms of the scientific publishing industry, quoting The Lancet's editor-in-chief, Richard Horton, who in 2015 wrote that "much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue." He also cited former NEJM editor Dr. Marcia Angell's widely circulated 2009 critique, which argued that medical research had become dominated by industry interests and that journals could no longer be fully trusted. Under Kennedy's plan, new NIH-backed journals would not only require replication of research findings but also publish peer reviews and mandate full access to underlying datasets, practices aimed at increasing transparency and scientific integrity. "Unless these journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing there... and we're going to create our own journals in-house… They're going to become the preeminent journals," Kennedy said.

Kennedy's comments echo Trump's anti-establishment science push

Kennedy's comments came just days after Trump released a controversial report questioning long-held medical practices and urging major changes to how federal agencies manage science. The Making America Healthy Again (MAHA) report challenges mainstream medical consensus, including the safety and necessity of commonly prescribed medications and widely accepted vaccine protocols. "There is a concerning trend of over-prescribing medications to children, often driven by conflicts of interest in medical research, regulation and practice," the report read. "This has led to unnecessary treatments and long-term health risks." Kennedy echoed that distrust, calling leading medical journals "corrupt." The coordinated tone of the MAHA report and Kennedy's comments has intensified concerns among scientists and public health officials that the Trump administration is escalating its campaign to reshape, and in some cases dismantle, "key pillars" of American science policy. Check out BigGovernment.news for more stories about RFK Jr.'s role in the second Trump administration. Watch this episode of "Brighteon Broadcast News" where Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, discusses Trump's decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next HHS secretary and how this moment could usher in a "historic health revolution" for the United States.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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Kennedy's comments echo Trump's anti-establishment science push

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