A widely covered excess-death paper is retracted over misinformation concerns

The respected BMJ Group has retracted a study published in June 2024, which highlighted excess deaths in Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The decision came after concerns were raised about the research's quality, originality, and the way it presented the information. The Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, which was listed as the institution of three out of the four listed authors at the time, conducted its own investigation into the matter.

This investigation shared anonymized findings with the BMJ Group in May 2025, which did not find any evidence of malicious intent, fabrication, falsification of data, or plagiarism by the authors. However, the institution concluded that the authors' explanations for the possible causes of excess deaths did not align with the scientific consensus at the time.

They considered these conclusions misleading, selective, and disproportionately focused on the negative effects of vaccination. The BMJ Group's internal investigation found that the discussion lacked sufficient balance and that the amount of original work conducted by the authors was limited. Dr. Helen Macdonald, the publication ethics and content integrity editor at BMJ Group, emphasized the complexity of the case due to multiple issues that required investigation.

The research, which had already generated considerable media attention, was retracted despite the fact that the institutional review found no evidence of wrongdoing. The institution and two of the four authors of the research have supported the decision to retract the work.