July 7th, 2016
To Gregory Poland,MDChief editor of international scientific journal VACCINE
Submitted on behalf of 2 scientific groups in Japan
Kiyohiko Katahira,PhD(Health Science,Tokyo University)
Email:katahiakiyohiko@gamail.com
Westrongly protest international scientific journal Vaccine’s unfair treatment of an animal experiment article

suggesting toxic effects of HPV vaccine (Joint Statement)

Institute of Clinical and Social Pharmacy (a private institute affiliated to the Medical Corporative Foundation
Kenwakai,a member of the Japan Federation of Democratic Medical Institutions ）Kiyohiko Katahira, director, PhD (Health Science)
Takano 4 chome 510-1, Misato, Saitama, ZIPS 341-0035 Tel: 048-955-7511 Fax: 048-955-7516
Homepage: http://syakaiyakugaku-ken.kenwa.or.jp/(in Japanese), Email:katahirakiyohiko@gmail.com
Japan Scientist Association (a NGO, scientists group)
Satoshi Ihara, Director General
Yushima 1 chome 9-15 tyasu bldg.9F,Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo ZIPS 113-0034 Tel:03-3812-1472 FAX:03-3813-2363
Homepage: http://www.jsa.gr.jp/intl/(English) Email:mail@jsa.gr.jp

An article “Behavioral abnormalities in young female mice following administration of aluminum adjuvants and the humanpapillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil,”which was written by nine researchers including R.Inbar and Y.Shoenfeld, revealed
that mice which were administered the vaccine tended to show behavior disorders such as movement disorder and disturbanceof short-term memory compared to the control group. Although the article was reviewed and published on online edition of
an international medical journal Vaccine (edited by Dr.Gregory Poland and published by Elsevier B.V.) based on judgment
by its associate editor Prof. Danny Altmann, it was later in January 2016 “forcefully withdrawn” in accordance with wishes
of Dr.Poland, Vaccine’s chief editor. We wish to prevent health hazards caused by adverse drug reactions including vaccine
by scientific evidence, therefore we deplore such a unilateral action by the journal. Academic journals adopting peer proper
review system normally accept and publish article after normal proof readings, but as to this article it is reported that
“By an individual decision of chief Editor, Dr.G.Poland, who has conflict of interests with companies producing vaccines,
it was withdrawn without providing no information to the authors." (according to Shoenfeld,Y. Personal Letter to Dr.Polanddated 6th March 2016).

We have discussed the matter and would like to point out following four problems:
1.

Although the article went through regular review and was published on online edition of the Journal, it was later“forcefully withdrawn” in accordance with an order issued by the Journal’s chief editor. We have to say accordinglythat the unprecedented handling of the article lacks fairness.

2.

The reason of this “forceful withdrawal” was described such as “This article has been withdrawn ・・・due to serious
cencerns regarding the scientific soundness of the article. ・・・the methodology is seriously flawed．
“ This wording
is considered to be quite intentional stance to the article’s authors because the article was once published on online
edition after normal process of review system. If it is considered that such intentional stance is justifiable, we cannot
but point out that there existed “serious flaws ”in the normal review processes of the journal Vaccine.

3. This “forceful withdrawal” of the article amounts to a kind of “scientific misconduct.”
4. There is a conflict of interests between the chief editor who ordered “forceful withdrawal” and vaccine manufacturers.

We ask the Vaccine’s chief editor as well as the Publisher to acknowledge frankly their unfair and unprecedented handlingof the article and to apologize to the authors.

References and those URL
1)A notice of the reason for the withdrawal of the article in PubMed ：http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26778424（accessed Jun 23,2016）
2)A notice of the reason for the withdrawal of the article in Science Direct：Vaccine Available online 9 January 2016
Withdrawn Article in Press-Note to users:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X16000165（accessed June 24,2016）
3)Yehuda Shoenfeld: Prof.Shoenfeld refers to Dr.Helen Petousis-Harris’s attack on Dr.Manuel Martinez-Lavin’s article.
Clin Rheumatol 2016;35:833-834.
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10067-016-3257-2（accessed June 24,2016）4)Website of Lucia Tomljenovic’s research gate where the full text of the withdrawn article was posted.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lucija_Tomljenovic (accessed Jun 23,2016)5)The description of the article of Plos One showing the COI between Chief Editor Dr.Poland and Vaccine
manufacturers including Merck Co. etc.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0122282 (accessed Jun 23,2016）