section_path: Secretary of Health and Human Services (2025–present)/Tenure/MAHA report
section_name: MAHA report
paragraph_text: MAHA report
  
  On May 22, 2025, the MAHA Commission released a report about childhood chronic disease. It was described as "wide-ranging" and claimed that a range of factors, including diet, vaccinations, medical prescriptions, physical stress, food additives, and pesticides, are "potential drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease that present the clearest opportunities for progress". On May 29, it was first reported by NOTUS that some of the studies the MAHA Commission's report cited did not exist; the authors of several other studies cited by the report said their work was mischaracterized. Medical researcher Ivan Oransky said the errors were characteristic of generative AI usage: "They come up with references that share a lot of words and authors and even journals, journal names, but they're not real." Some of the report's citation URLs contained the string "oaicite", indicating a tool produced by OpenAI was used. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said these errors were "formatting issues that are being addressed and the report will be updated. But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government." Asked whether the MAHA Commission's report used generative AI, Leavitt said, "I can’t speak to that." The report was updated repeatedly the same day. NOTUS released a follow-up addressing the updates and reported that while several errors from the original report had been edited or removed, new errors were found, including updated citations that seem to misinterpret scientific studies.
  
  On May 22, 2025, the MAHA Commission released a report about childhood chronic disease. It was described as "wide-ranging" and claimed that a range of factors, including diet, vaccinations, medical prescriptions, physical stress, food additives, and pesticides, are "potential drivers behind the rise in childhood chronic disease that present the clearest opportunities for progress". On May 29, it was first reported by NOTUS that some of the studies the MAHA Commission's report cited did not exist; the authors of several other studies cited by the report said their work was mischaracterized. Medical researcher Ivan Oransky said the errors were characteristic of generative AI usage: "They come up with references that share a lot of words and authors and even journals, journal names, but they're not real." Some of the report's citation URLs contained the string "oaicite", indicating a tool produced by OpenAI was used. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said these errors were "formatting issues that are being addressed and the report will be updated. But it does not negate the substance of the report, which, as you know, is one of the most transformative health reports that has ever been released by the federal government." Asked whether the MAHA Commission's report used generative AI, Leavitt said, "I can’t speak to that." The report was updated repeatedly the same day. NOTUS released a follow-up addressing the updates and reported that while several errors from the original report had been edited or removed, new errors were found, including updated citations that seem to misinterpret scientific studies.