Meerman Wants State-Funded Study Of Vaccinated, Unvaccinated Children

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 09/17/2026) House lawmakers should consider funding a large-scale study comparing the long-term health of vaccinated and unvaccinated children, the chair of a House oversight panel said today.

Rep. Luke Meerman (R-Coopersville), chair of the House Oversight Subcommittee on the Child Welfare System, called for the research after a hearing focused on an unpublished 2020 Henry Ford Health study that reported higher rates of chronic health conditions among vaccinated children.

The study did not establish that vaccines caused those conditions, and Henry Ford has said it was never published because of serious problems with its data and methodology.

“If Henry Ford doesn’t like this study, let’s find some money in the state of Michigan and let Henry Ford do the study they want,” Meerman said. “Fix it.”

Meerman said Henry Ford Health was invited to appear before the committee but declined.

The disputed study examined the medical records of more than 18,000 children born within the Henry Ford system between 2000 and 2016. About 1,950 were classified as completely unvaccinated.

Researchers reported an association between vaccination and a higher likelihood of asthma, autoimmune diseases, developmental disorders and other chronic conditions. However, the draft was never submitted to a scientific journal for peer review.

Henry Ford has said the study was shelved because it fell short of the health system’s scientific standards—not because its findings were politically inconvenient.

Independent researchers have also identified major weaknesses, including that vaccinated children were followed for about twice as long, visited doctors more often and differed from the unvaccinated group in ways that could affect their health outcomes. Those differences could give vaccinated children more opportunities to receive a diagnosis.

Researcher Nicolas Hulscher, who has a master’s degree in public health with a focus on epidemiology, defended the study before the committee. He called it the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind and said its findings were a “strong signal” that deserves further investigation.

Hulscher acknowledged that the study showed only an association and could not prove vaccines caused chronic illnesses.

“A single study cannot prove a causal effect,” he said. “These are associations, and these are very strong associations.”

Hulscher said a follow-up study should include much larger and more evenly matched groups—potentially 50,000 vaccinated children and 50,000 unvaccinated children—receiving care through the same health system.

Rep. Brad Paquette (R-Niles) said securing money for such a study could become a legislative priority.

“Let’s fund another study,” Paquette said. “Let’s figure out how to get these answers.”

Committee members played clips from the documentary An Inconvenient Study, which features secretly recorded conversations with Henry Ford infectious disease researcher Dr. Marcus Zervos, one of the study’s authors.

In the recordings, Zervos described the study as important and suggested he feared professional consequences if it were published.

“Part of my reluctance to do anything is that nothing is going to come out of it other than me losing my job, which I’d rather not see happen,” Zervos said in one clip.

Henry Ford has accused the documentary’s producers of twisting information and spreading misinformation. The health system said the paper was abandoned because it contained “significant and serious flaws in its data and methodology.”

A Henry Ford fact check said the draft did not prove vaccinated children were more likely to develop chronic conditions. Outside specialists interviewed by Michigan Public similarly said the comparison groups were too different to support the conclusions being drawn from the data.

Rep. Sharon MacDonell (D-Troy) raised that issue during the hearing, noting the unvaccinated children were generally followed for a much shorter period.

“If all of the unvaccinated children were only up to age 3, how can you define long-term chronic health outcomes?” she asked.

Hulscher responded that the researchers performed additional analyses involving children followed for one, three and five years and continued to find an association. He maintained that the study was strong enough to publish, although he agreed a larger study with equally sized groups would provide better evidence.

Paquette said Henry Ford’s absence left lawmakers without an opportunity to question both sides during the hearing.

“I’d really like to hear from Henry Ford,” he said. “I want more discourse around this.”

The committee also heard from parents who said they felt pressured by medical providers to vaccinate their children.

Sydney Paquette told lawmakers that hospital workers repeatedly questioned her decision to delay a hepatitis B vaccination for her newborn daughter. She said parents should receive clear answers and be allowed to make informed decisions without being threatened or intimidated.

Rep. Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia) also described feeling pressured to receive an H1N1 vaccine while pregnant. She said parents need more information about possible risks before making vaccination decisions.

The testimony about individual experiences did not establish that vaccines caused any later medical conditions.

Meerman said the purpose of another study would be to provide clearer answers rather than have legislators settle scientific questions themselves.

“I’m not a medical doctor. I shouldn’t be citing how good these vaccines are or not,” he said. “There are enough studies out there that give us question marks about what’s going on that we should all want this study done tomorrow.”

A full transcript of the committee hearing can be found here.