The Florida Surgeon General, Joseph Ladapo, has been accused of “scientific fraud,” after a document obtained by the public revealed that he personally altered a state–driven study about Covid–19 vaccines last year.
According to the document, Ladapo’s changes suggested that some doses pose a significantly higher health risk for young men than established by the broader medical community. He later used the document in October to make disputed claims that the Pfizer–BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were dangerous to young men.
The medical community was quick to criticize Ladapo’s assertions, which go against guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and American Academy of Pediatrics. But Ladapo’s statements aligned with the stance of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis against mandatory Covid–19 vaccination.
Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and University of Florida viewed Ladapo’s edits and agreed that the changes were politically motivated and not based on scientific fact.
“To say this — based on what we’ve seen, and how this analysis was made — it’s a lie,” said Matt Hitchings, an assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida.
The document, which was also provided by the Florida Department of Health, indicated that the study initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid–19 vaccines for young men. But “Dr. L’s Edits” revealed that Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old were at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology.
“The risk associated with mRNA vaccination should be weighed against the risk associated with COVID–19 infection,” Ladapo wrote in the draft.
In response to the accusations, Ladapo said revisions and refinements are a normal part of assessing surveillance data and that he has the appropriate expertise and training to make those decisions.
The anonymous internal complaint made against Ladapo was being investigated by the Florida Department of Health’s inspector general, but was ultimately dropped due to a lack of response from the anonymous person. Ladapo denied the accusations, saying that they were “factually false.”
It appears that Ladapo’s changes to the study were politically motivated, and not based on scientific fact. This has caused many in the medical community to question the integrity of Ladapo’s work. It is unclear if any action will be taken against him for his changes, but it is clear that the public should be wary of his recommendations.
