Bhattacharya accused of blocking CDC study — but flawed methods escape scrutiny
A row over a “blocked” CDC study has centred on censorship rather than the study’s flawed methods or the journal it was headed for.
Jay Bhattacharya has faced a wave of criticism after reports he stopped publication of a CDC study said to show the “benefits” of COVID vaccination while overseeing the agency.
The paper had been slated for the CDC’s in-house journal, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).
The reaction from public health figures and legacy media was immediate and largely one-sided, focusing on suppression rather than the evidence itself.
Now the study has been released.
Published exclusively on Inside Medicine, it reports a 50–55% reduction in COVID-related urgent care visits and hospitalisations — a figure already being used to reinforce claims about vaccine effectiveness.
But the central question has been largely sidestepped — is the study itself reliable?
Critics have not been deterred by the weak study design. If anything, they have doubled down and defended it.