BMJ Group pulls 2024 excess-death study after citing misinformation and weak methodology

A 2024 article in BMJ Public Health suggesting that excess deaths in Western nations remained unusually elevated after the Covid-19 peak has been fully retracted by the BMJ Group on August 12. The publisher said the paper provided misinformation about causes of death and relied on minimal original research, prompting the most severe form of scientific disavowal. The study was widely cited by anti-vaccine sources that misread it as directly linking the excess mortality to Covid-19 vaccinations, although the authors only noted that high mortality persisted despite vaccination and containment measures.

Researchers condemned the work for giving ammunition to unfounded vaccine attacks and questioned its excess-death calculation methods. An expression of concern had been issued earlier in 2024, and the Netherlands-based Princess Maxima Centre for Pediatric Oncology, where three of the four authors are affiliated, launched its own probe, with the centre and two authors supporting the retraction.