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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threatened to stop government scientists from publishing their work in major medical journals on a podcast Tuesday as part of his escalating war on institutions he says are influenced by pharmaceutical companies.

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Speaking on the “Ultimate Human” podcast, Kennedy said the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Medical Association and The Lancet, three of the most influential medical journals in the world, were “corrupt” and publish studies funded and approved by pharmaceutical companies.

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“Unless those journals change dramatically, we are going to stop NIH scientists from publishing in them and we’re going to create our own journals in-house,” he said, referring to the National Institutes of Health, an HHS agency that is the world’s largest funder of health research.

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His comments come days after the White House released a major report, spearheaded by Kennedy, that says overprescribed medications could be driving a rise in chronic disease in children. The report suggests that influence from the pharmaceutical industry and a culture of fear around speaking out has drawn doctors and scientists away from studying the causes of chronic disease. It also comes after both JAMA and the NEJM received letters from the Department of Justice probing them for partisanship.

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Kennedy’s stance, however, conflicts with that of his NIH director, Jay Bhattacharya, who recently told a reporter with POLITICO sister publication WELT he supports academic freedom, which “means I can send my paper out even if my bosses disagree with me.”

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