HJNO Jul/Aug 2025

MAHA REPORT 44  JUL / AUG 2025 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   event to a vaccination. 468 469 The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) system, established in 1990, works with healthcare organizations to monitor and study adverse events using electronic health records, covering 15 million people. 470471 However, deidentified data in the VSD, paid for by taxpayers, is not gener- ally available to scientists outside of the VSD network to conduct analyses or replicate findings using VSD data. Furthermore, the CDC has noted that VSD studies are likely prone to confounders and bias; it is also geared towards studying short-term outcomes and is not well- suited to studying associations between vaccination and longer-term chronic disease conditions. 472 Conflicts of interest: The National Childhood Vaccine InjuryAct of 1986 was enacted in response to liability concerns surrounding inju- ries linked to the three routine childhood vaccines in use at the time. 473 The law shields vaccine manufacturers from liability for vaccine- related injuries, creating a unique regulatory and legal framework. This framework creates financial disincentives for pharmaceutical companies to identify safety issues either pre- or post-licensure. Congress made HHS responsible for vaccine safety in the Mandate for Safer Childhood Vaccines. 474 However, HHS also has the conflicting duty to promote vaccines and to defend them against claims of injury in the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. 475 In fact, HHS has faced lawsuits for failing to fulfill basic duties under the Man- date for Safer Childhood Vaccines such as its requirement to submit biannual reports to Congress on how it has made vaccines safer. 476 Scientific and Medical Freedom: Open scientific discussion and inquiry has become more difficult with the expansion of childhood vaccine mandates and public health—combined with efforts to combat vaccine hesitancy. 477 Physicians who question or deviate from the CDC’s vaccine schedule may face professional repercussions, including scrutiny from licensing boards and potential disciplinary action. The American Medical Association (AMA), for example, adopted a new policy aimed at “addressing public health disinformation” that called to “ensure licensing boards have the authority to take disciplinary action against health professionals for spreading health-related disinformation.” 478 This dynamic discourages practitioners from conducting or discussing nuanced risk-benefit analyses that deviate from official guidelines—even when those analyses may be clinically appropriate. It also discourages physicians and scientists from studying adverse reactions. This silences critical discussion, discourages reporting to safety systems and hampers vaccine research, and undermines the open dialogue essential to protecting and improving children’s health. From Bench to Bedside: Mechanisms of Corporate Capture The overmedicalization of American children, characterized by escalating prescription rates, unwarranted interventions, and declining health outcomes, signals a critical policy failure where corporate profitability supersedes the health of children. While in the 1960s U.S. healthcare achieved excellent health outcomes for children while spending at a level consistent with other developed nations, today’s sys- tem far outspends sister nations while delivering far worse outcomes. This phenomenon is largely propelled by “corporate capture,” in which industry interests dominate and distort scientific literature, leg- islative actions, academic institutions, regulatory agencies, medical journals, physician organizations, clinical guidelines, and the news media. The pharmaceutical industry, with its vast resources and influence, is a primary driver of this capture, though similar dynamics pervade the food and chemical industries, further exacerbating health challenges. This analysis details the mechanisms of corporate cap- ture through a “bench to bedside” framework, followed by an examination of the systemic frailties that perpetuate industry dominance. At a granular level, this suggests the poor health and increased morbidity of our children is multifactorial and includes, most promi- nently, the corporate capture of medical knowledge. The distortion and influence of medical education, medical knowledge, and therefore clinical guidelines and practice, has led providers to over-diagnose and over-prescribe, and over-use by children, while largely ignoring 367 American Psychological Association. (2023). 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Changes in mental health and substance use among US adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Pediatrics, 176(12), 1226–1234. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2022.3737 . Panchal, N. (2024, February 6). Recent trends in mental health and substance use concerns among adolescents. Kaiser Family Foundation. https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/recent-trends-in-mental-health-and-substance-use-concerns-among-adolescents/. 371 Liu, W., Zhang, Y., & Li, H. (2020). Chronic stress and inflammation: The role of cytokines in metabolic diseases. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 130(10), 5123-5135. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI139553. Mehdi, S., Wani, S. U. D., Krishna, K. L., Kinattingal, N., & Roohi, T. F. (2023). A review on linking stress, depression, and insulin resistance via low-grade chronic inflammation. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports, 36, 101571. 372 Allen, J., Romay-Tallon, R., Brymer, K. J., Caruncho, H. J., & Kalynchuk, L. E. (2018). Mitochondria and mood: Mitochondrial dysfunction as a key player in the manifestation of depression. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 12, 112. 373 Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Media use is linked to lower psychological well-being: Evidence from three datasets. Psychiatric Quarterly, 90(2), 311–331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-019-09630-7. 374 U.K. Government. (2023). Tackling Loneliness Annual Report: The Fourth Year. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/loneliness- annual-tackling-loneliness- annual-report-march-2023-the-fourth-year. 375 Cox, D. A., Streeter, R., & Wilde, D. (2021, June 8). The state of American friendship: Change, challenges, and loss. The Survey Center on American Life. https://www. americansurveycenter.org/the-state-of-american-friendship-change-challenges-and-loss/. 376 Cigna. (2020). Loneliness and the workplace: 2020 report. https://www.cigna.com/static/docs/loneliness-and-the-workplace-2020- report.pdf. 377 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. (2021). National Survey of Children’s Health, 2020-2021 [Data set]. Maternal and Child Health Bureau. https://mchb.hrsa.gov/data-research/national-survey-childrens-health. 378 Farrell, A. K., Li, Y., & Vitoroulis, I. (2023). Loneliness and well-being in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1087713. Farrell AH, Vitoroulis I, Eriksson M, Vaillancourt T. Loneliness and Well-Being in Children and Adolescents during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review. Children (Basel). 2023 Jan 31;10(2):279. doi: 10.3390/children10020279. PMID: 36832408; PMCID: PMC9955087.