Gold Standard Science

RFK Jr. recently announced that he would like to “return” us to “gold standard science.” There was even an Executive Order (EO). Philosophically, it seems very sound and appealing. However, this should not and cannot be considered in a vacuum. Context matters. While RFK Jr.'s 'gold standard science' initiative appears philosophically sound, a closer examination of its context and application reveals that it's a strategic rhetorical tool used to undermine established scientific institutions, promote pseudoscience, and serve financial interests.

The EO provides numerous talking points for this GSS initiative. The EO reads a bit like a wish list of items that scientists have been discussing in the background for years, describing GSS as:

• Reproducible
• Transparent
• Communicative of error and uncertainty
• Collaborative and interdisciplinary
• Skeptical of its findings and assumptions
• Structured for falsifiability of hypotheses
• Subject to unbiased peer review
• Accepting of negative results as positive outcomes
• Without conflicts of interest

Fool's Gold Standard Science

As simple philosophical concepts, these are wonderful. After all, who could refute that science should follow those points? However, when considering the broader context of 2025’s MAHA madness, it paints a very different and more sinister picture. I won't go through every point for brevity's sake, but will highlight how some of these concepts have been used and abused.

Reproducible: While scientific findings should be reproducible, it’s easy to reproduce using bad methodology. Shoddy science can be replicated with even shodder science. A great example of this is the research linking vaccines and autism. Dr. Andrea Love and I published a debunk of junk science on this very topic earlier this year. Unfortunately, this isn’t the only example of this. Methodology and rigor matter.

Subject to unbiased peer review: RFK Jr announced that he no longer wishes government scientists to publish in the biggest and most impactful journals in their fields. He claims this is due to “bias” and has announced plans to create his own journals with his own peer reviewers. The proposal to create new journals with hand-picked reviewers raises serious questions about the impartiality of the new system, which is exactly what he’s claiming to combat. This action directly contradicts the principle of unbiased peer review by moving the process into a closed system controlled by the very people whose work is being reviewed.

Accepting of negative results as positive outcomes: We learn from every study. We learn that something works or it doesn't, and both are valuable outcomes. However, “negative results” can also be interpreted as “results one doesn't like.” Trump recently fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over his dislike of numbers generated utilizing a long-standing, consistent methodology. We should fully expect this to happen again.

Without conflicts of interest: According to a statement released from HHS, 

“The public must know that unbiased science–evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest–guides the recommendations of our health agencies. A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science.”

However, a research letter published in JAMA found that conflicts of interest among vaccine advisors within HHS were very low before RFK Jr’s dismissed everyone. 

The Thyroid Medication Controversy

The hypocrisy of this rhetoric is perhaps best illustrated by a recent controversy involving thyroid medication. The FDA issued a statement on August 8th informing the public of letters sent to manufacturers of unapproved, animal-derived thyroid medication. 

“FDA has concerns with the safety and effectiveness of the unapproved animal-derived thyroid medications, which have not been reviewed by FDA to ensure safety, purity, and potency, and may have quality and dosing issues. For example:

• Tablets made from the same manufacturing batches may not always provide the same thyroid hormone levels.
• Thyroid medications derived from animal thyroid glands have an increased risk of certain impurities due to the source – animal thyroid tissue – or the way it is manufactured. These issues can lead to infections and other health concerns. 

The agency has received complaints from patients and reports of adverse events related to the safety and potency of these unapproved medications.”

This statement implies that the FDA is concerned about the safety and well-being of potential users. However, on August 13, Marty Makary and RFK Jr. published the following on X:

In case you're wondering, desiccated thyroid has been promoted by a lot of the common pseudoscience peddlers and culprits within the MAHA movement. For example, Will Cole, Josh Axe, Courtney Swan, and others collaborated on a joint post about the FDA letter.  

We are dedicated to gold-standard science through clinical trials of desiccated thyroid extract; however, we must continue to ensure access for all Americans to products that the FDA has expressed concern over, largely due to a lack of gold-standard science. This exchange is more akin to pressure from the industry and key individuals, some of whom may benefit financially from desiccated thyroid extracts. Will Cole stated in his post that he utilizes it daily for telehealth visits and similar products. 

Desiccated thyroid extracts won't be where this stops. Alarmism over “thyroid dysregulation” and similar language meant to invoke vague suspicions of hypo- or hyperthyroidism is often targeted with supplements. The end goal isn't your health and well-being, or getting your thyroid to function normally. It's your money. It's using the language of science to make it sound legitimate. These are all old tricks. 

They've doubled down on co-opting scientific concepts and language for political points and purposes. They’re using the language of GSS to help dismantle public health safeguards. The kerfuffle around thyroid treatments is just the latest example, but you can be sure there will be more. 

I’ve said it before and will say it again here: MAHA is banking on vibes, hopes, dreams, and trading one Big Industry for another. Big Wellness is not better than Big Pharma. The individuals leading the charge on desiccated thyroid extract are not experts in pharmacology, medicine, health, or gold-standard science. They’re experts in profiting from wellness trends and marketing. They want your money and nothing more.