Florida surgeon general altered COVID-19 study findings

Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo altered important findings in a COVID-19 study with the intent to spread misinformation about vaccine safety.

Ladapo personally made changes to a study about COVID-19 vaccines last year that suggested the vaccines had higher health risks for young men than the rest of the medical community established. The story was first reported by Politico. His changes, which were revealed by a public records request by the new outlet, specifically altered the risks of cardiac death to appear more severe than previous versions of the study, Politico reported. He later used the study to claim the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were dangerous to young men.

Ladapo, a Harvard graduate who is also professor of medicine at the University of Florida, is a “well-known COVID-19 skeptic,” Politico said, and his alterations to the state-driven study reflected Gov. Ron Desantis’ beliefs that COVID-19 vaccines should not be mandatory. The revelations have caused some critics to argue Ladapo’s actions reflect political motivations rather than scientific concerns.

“The newly released draft of the eight-page study, provided by the Florida Department of Health, indicates that it initially stated that there was no significant risk associated with the Covid-19 vaccines for young men,” Politico reported. “But ‘Dr. L’s Edits,’ as the document is titled, reveal that Ladapo replaced that language to say that men between 18 and 39 years old are at high risk of heart illness from two Covid vaccines that use mRNA technology.”

Ladapo told Politico that revisions are a normal part of assessing surveillance data and he has the credentials to make such changes. Researchers say Ladapo’s edits removed a key analysis that contradicted his recommendation regarding vaccine safety.

Ladapo was appointed by DeSantis in September 2021 as Florida’s surgeon general, and he was criticized for being affiliated with America’s Frontline Doctors, a conservative group founded to fight COVID-19 restrictions by anti-vaccine advocate Simone Gold, according to Politico. He faced an internal complaint of “scientific fraud” for the changes he made to the draft study.

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