BMJ Public Health retracted a study on excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic that appeared to suggest vaccination and other countermeasures as a possible explanation, following an investigation by the journal and the authors' institution.
"This article is retracted by the journal for misinformation in the discussion regarding the possible causes of excess mortality, and because the limited nature of the original work by the authors was not sufficiently described," the retraction notice stated.
In its investigation, Princess Máxima Center in the Netherlands found that the article "pays disproportionate attention to the possibility that COVID-19 containment measures and vaccination might have caused excess mortality," the notice explained, adding that the paper didn't actually investigate any of the causes of excess mortality.
The investigation also found that the study "misleadingly cited literature that supported its own arguments, but did not sufficiently discuss relevant literature that supported alternative interpretations," according to the notice.
Corresponding author Saskia Mostert, MD, PhD, of the Princess Máxima Center, wasn't available to cooperate with the institutional investigation. However, she replied to a BMJ Group query in October 2025 (after the institution shared a summary of its report with the BMJ Group in May 2025) and said she would be willing to make some changes to the paper.
