HHS Secretary's Control Over Research Funders Raises Stakes for Scientific Independence

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. requested retraction of a Danish study confirming aluminum vaccine adjuvants are safe. The Annals of Internal Medicine refused on August 11, 2025. The collision matters because Kennedy oversees the CDC, FDA, and NIH—agencies that fund much of the research published in journals like the Annals. Whether he uses funding leverage to pressure inconvenient findings remains the open question for scientific independence.