⚡️ NIMITZ HEALTH NEWS FLASH ⚡️ 

“How the Corruption of Science has Impacted Public Perception and Policies Regarding Vaccines”

Senate HSGAC Investigations Subcommittee

September 9th, 2025 (recording linked here)

WITNESS & TESTIMONY

• Aaron Siri: Managing Partner, Siri & Glimstad LLP

• Jake Scott, MD: Infectious Disease Specialist, Stanford University School of Medicine

• Toby Rogers, PhD: Fellow, Brownstone Institute

HEARING HIGHLIGHTS

MEMBER OPENING STATEMENTS

• Chair Johnson (R-WI) previewed witnesses, including an attorney presenting an unpublished 2020 analysis he said showed higher chronic illness in vaccinated children and a researcher critiquing autism studies, with a minority witness defending vaccine safety. He asserted federal agencies hid a myocarditis safety signal, the media minimized vaccine injuries, and powerful interests suppressed inquiries into root causes of chronic disease. He concluded that integrity must return to science to restore trust and that the testimony warranted public attention.

• Ranking Member Blumenthal (D-CT) argued the real “corruption of science” was the denial, suppression, and politicization of evidence under the Trump administration, including firing the CDC Director for refusing to approve unevidenced guidance and suppressing a measles risk forecast. He referenced an open letter from HHS employees urging Secretary Kennedy to step down, and condemned violent rhetoric from ACIP appointee Dr. Robert Malone, urging his removal. He warned that elevating a flawed unpublished study while ignoring thousands of rigorous studies showing vaccine safety would endanger public health and further erode trust.

WITNESS OPENING STATEMENTS

• Mr. Siri testified that a 2013 IOM review found no studies comparing fully vaccinated to completely unvaccinated children and that CDC had not executed such analyses despite feasibility. He said Henry Ford researchers conducted a retrospective cohort using medical records (2000–2016) and, in early 2020, found significantly higher rates of asthma, atopic and autoimmune conditions, and neurodevelopmental disorders among vaccinated children, with chronic illness in 57% of vaccinated versus 17% of unvaccinated after ten years. He asserted these findings were statistically significant and biologically plausible via immune dysregulation, yet the authors withheld submission due to professional repercussions. He argued this selection bias—publishing only results that affirm vaccine safety—corrupted the scientific record.

• Dr. Rogers stated that autism prevalence had risen sharply to roughly 1 in 31 eight-year-olds, which he said genetics alone could not explain. He argued major genetic and environmental studies lacked unvaccinated control groups and did not adjust for vaccination, leaving causal gaps. He cited six studies he said linked vaccination to increased autism risk and interactions with factors such as prematurity, C-section, and lack of breastfeeding. He concluded that vaccines and other toxicants primarily drove autism and chronic disease and urged action to reduce exposures.

• Dr. Scott reported building a public database of 1,088 randomized vaccine trials involving over 10.5 million participants and said 661 used inert placebos, including trials for all 16 routine childhood antigens. He testified that the unpublished Henry Ford analysis was fatally biased due to longer follow-up and more clinic visits among vaccinated children, producing detection bias and implausible zeros. He noted the study itself showed no autism association and contrasted it with large published analyses finding no vaccine-autism link, adding that measles outbreaks underscored vaccination’s importance. He urged basing policy on transparent, peer-reviewed evidence and stated vaccines had saved vast numbers of lives globally.

QUESTION AND ANSWER SUMMARY

• Chair Johnson if the Henry Ford vaccinated–unvaccinated analysis could be defended against claims it was “flawed by design.” Mr. Siri said multiple sensitivity checks (excluding no-visit children; requiring 1/3/5 years continuous enrollment; comparing visit rates; using cancer as a negative control) still showed higher chronic disease in vaccinated children.

  Chair Johnson invited criticism of the “154 million lives saved” modeling claim. Mr. Siri argued the estimate lacked boundable uncertainty, said DTP studies associated the vaccine with higher all-cause mortality, and noted measles mortality had already fallen ~99% pre-vaccine, adding a Japanese cohort that linked natural infection to lower later heart-disease mortality.

• Sen. Moreno (R-OH) entered Federalist No. 46 to oppose firing over speech, then pressed each witness on partisan tweets to illustrate bias. He challenged on toddler masking, school closures, and “with vs. from COVID” attribution; Dr. Scott acknowledged changing his view on masking toddlers and noted attribution complexities while emphasizing heavy clinical losses.

• Chair Johnson asked about COVID therapeutics. Dr. Scott said he followed evidence-based guidelines (e.g., remdesivir when eligible, dexamethasone) and did not use ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine.

  Chair Johnson contrasted CDC death totals with the Commonwealth Fund’s modeled 3.2 million U.S. lives saved, arguing it implied implausible >5 million annual counterfactual deaths. Dr. Scott said the estimate was credible given frontline conditions. Mr. Siri added that similar infection prevalence in 2020–2021 despite high vaccination and rising all-cause mortality undercut “lives saved” modeling and criticized remdesivir trials for mid-study endpoint changes and conflicts of interest.

• Ranking Member Blumenthal credited Operation Warp Speed with changing the pandemic’s course and asked if vaccines were safe and effective. Dr. Scott answered that no vaccine is 100% safe, COVID vaccines were generally safe and effective, and they were not “the least safe ever.”

  Ranking Member Blumenthal pressed why the Henry Ford analysis was unpublished and flawed; Dr. Scott pointed to implausible zeros (e.g., ADHD), likely detection bias, weak biological plausibility for some large effects, and clarified he meant “methodologically flawed,” not deliberately so, while noting many studies never publish.

  Ranking Member Blumenthal then asked why the study had not been publicized earlier. Mr. Siri said the authors feared retaliation and he had hoped for normal peer review. Chair Johnson interjected that he ultimately forced the study’s release.

• Chair Johnson argued mortality from diphtheria, measles, and hepatitis B had largely fallen before widespread vaccination, said CDC/WHO “lives saved” models vastly overstated benefits, highlighted autism and VAERS charts, alleged poor federal transparency and retaliation, and raised concerns about systemic mRNA/LNP distribution, possible DNA contamination, and excess-mortality modeling.

• Sen. Blumenthal asked what ending routine childhood vaccination would do, how outbreaks spread from unvaccinated children, and why unpublished studies weren’t shared. He reviewed Dr. Scott’s RCT database and questioned Siri and Rogers on credentials and tweets. Dr. Scott said stopping routine vaccines would cause preventable outbreaks and deaths, summarized his catalog of 1,088 vaccine RCTs with public sources, endorsed layered safety monitoring, and said a global conspiracy was implausible though credible contamination findings would warrant concern. Dr. Rogers framed rising chronic illness and autism as products of “regulatory” and “epistemic” capture, defended his rhetoric as outrage over iatrogenic harm, alleged long-standing autism risk cover-ups, and called for accountability.