Analysis Flags 853 Raoult Papers for Ethical Problems
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- International researchers found ethical and legal concerns in 853 of 2,674 papers published by IHU Méditerranée Infection between 1994 and 2024, with founder Didier Raoult listed as co-author on 758 of the flagged articles.
- The analysis, published in Research Integrity and Peer Review, identified 343 articles with no ethics approval recorded, dozens of approvals obtained retrospectively, and at least 78 papers that 'appear not to comply with the applicable French law.'
- The findings have already triggered 64 retractions and 270 'expressions of concern,' and the team criticized Aix-Marseille University for failing to provide adequate governance and oversight of the institute.
- Raoult's March 2020 hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin study claiming a Covid-19 cure was retracted in 2025 for ethical and scientific reasons, having been cited thousands of times and fueling antivax conspiracy theories.
- Donald Trump called the research a 'gamechanger' on Twitter the day after Anthony Fauci dismissed it as 'anecdotal evidence,' while Mehmet Oz — now CMS administrator — told Fox & Friends he was 'flabbergasted' and privately emailed Jared Kushner calling it a 'potential pandemic solution.'
- Robert F Kennedy Jr, now HHS secretary, dedicated his 2021 book 'The Real Anthony Fauci' to Raoult as one of the 'heroic' scientists behind hydroxychloroquine and has attacked Fauci for his stance on the drug.
- The article notes the new findings 'further call into question the scientific judgment of current health leaders in the Trump administration,' who have pledged to restore 'gold-standard science' informing federal policy.
Why it matters: The current CMS administrator (Oz) and HHS secretary (Kennedy) publicly championed Raoult's hydroxychloroquine research in 2020 while now pledging to restore 'gold-standard science' in federal policy. The new analysis found 853 ethically problematic papers at his institute, directly contradicting that commitment and already triggering 64 retractions and 270 expressions of concern.
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