.png "Senator Ron Johnson and his subcommittee examine the corruption of science in a hearing.")
A congressional hearing this week intended to examine the “corruption of science” around vaccines ended up rehashing long-debunked claims — this time centered on an unpublished, unverified study that claims unvaccinated children are healthier than vaccinated ones.
The hearing, led by Senator Ron Johnson and his subcommittee, focused on a 2020 study authored by Marcus Zervos of Henry Ford Health — a study that has never been peer-reviewed, never published, and is not available to the public in any form.
Despite this, Johnson and key witness Aaron Siri — a lawyer with ties to anti-vaccine figure RFK Jr. and the Informed Consent Action Network — claimed the study’s authors feared professional retaliation if they made the findings public.
No authors of the study were present at the hearing, and Henry Ford Health declined to comment before publication.
Claims Without Evidence
The only glimpse into the study came from witness statements and a short trailer for a documentary produced by the Informed Consent Action Network — an anti-vaccine organization. The trailer made sweeping claims: that in the unvaccinated group, there were “zero” cases of brain dysfunction, diabetes, behavioral issues, learning disabilities, or other psychological conditions.
The trailer also included a widely repeated but misleading statistic: former President Donald Trump stated, “A few decades ago, one in 10,000 children had autism. Today, it’s one in 31.” This claim ignores how changes in diagnostic criteria and greater awareness have significantly expanded reported cases — a well-established fact in medical literature.
Even witnesses on both sides agreed on one point: the unpublished study did not show a link between vaccines and autism.
Physician Calls Study ‘Fundamentally Flawed’
Dr. Jake Scott, a Stanford infectious disease expert and the only medical doctor to testify, offered a sharp critique. He said the study’s design was deeply flawed: vaccinated children had roughly twice as many healthcare visits as unvaccinated ones — meaning they were more likely to be diagnosed with any condition simply because they saw doctors more often.
Scott questioned how the study could report zero ADHD cases in thousands of unvaccinated children, despite a national prevalence of 11%. His conclusion? Many conditions likely went undiagnosed because children weren’t brought in for evaluation. The study relied solely on medical records — if a child wasn’t seen by a doctor, they wouldn’t be counted.
He also pointed out other strange results, like a supposed six to eight times increase in ear infections among vaccinated kids — a claim with no known scientific explanation.
Aaron Siri claimed the authors ran “sensitivity analyses” to adjust for these issues — but none of that data has been released.
Real Science Paints a Different Picture
Dr. Scott referenced a Danish study published in July 2025 that actually was peer-reviewed and published. That study analyzed more than 1 million vaccinated children and 15,000 unvaccinated ones, looking at 50 potential conditions, including autism, ADHD, asthma, and food allergies.
The Danish researchers found no increased risk for vaccinated children. In fact, vaccinated kids had lower rates of some illnesses, including ulcerative colitis.
Despite this, Johnson and Siri cast doubt on the Danish study, arguing its authors hadn’t released raw data — even though their own favored study has zero available data.
Distorting History and Vaccine Skepticism
At one point, Senator Johnson displayed a chart suggesting measles death rates were already dropping before the vaccine was introduced in the 1960s — which is true, due to better healthcare, sanitation, and nutrition. But the chart conveniently ends in 1960, ignoring that after the vaccine's introduction, both cases and deaths dropped to near zero.
Measles was eliminated in the U.S. by 2000, but has since made a comeback as vaccination rates have fallen. So far in 2025, there have been 35 measles outbreaks, with two children and one adult dying, per the CDC.
Conspiracies and Holocaust Comparisons
The hearing also veered into more extreme territory.
When Johnson asked Dr. Scott whether he “believed Fauci when he said the mRNA [Covid] shot would stay in the arm,” Scott hesitated. It’s worth noting there is no evidence Anthony Fauci ever made that claim.
More troublingly, Toby Rogers, an anti-vaccine activist with a history of inflammatory remarks, called vaccines “one of the greatest crimes in human history.” When Senator Richard Blumenthal asked if he was comparing vaccines to the Holocaust, audience members applauded.
Rogers’ own paper linking vaccines and autism was previously retracted, and he has posted (and deleted) tweets calling for Nuremberg-style trials for vaccine-promoting officials.
Bottom Line: Unpublished Study Sparks Familiar Myths
This hearing did little to uncover new truths about vaccine safety. Instead, it rehashed old and thoroughly debunked anti-vaccine narratives, this time using an unpublished, opaque study as its centerpiece.
Public health experts warn that misinformation like this not only undermines science — it carries real-world consequences. Diseases once thought to be eliminated are returning, and trust in proven public health measures continues to erode.