Lancet letter which demanded the UK's 'Freedom Day' be scrapped backed by 1,200 'experts' actually included social workers, midwives and dentists - and 'ANYONE could sign it'.
What once was one of the world's most respected scientific journals has moved well away from the 'peer reviewed' scientific processes they were once known for - Daily Mail Online reports:
A scathing letter which demanded Freedom Day be delayed and was backed by more than 1,200 'experts' allowed people with no scientific credentials to sign it, MailOnline can reveal.
The document accused the UK Government of conducting a 'dangerous and unethical experiment' by pressing on with the July 19 unlocking despite soaring infection rates.
It was originally signed by 122 leading scientists and doctors last week and published in the prestigious journal The Lancet.
But it was later republished on an online campaign website, where it gained more than 1,000 more signatures and made national headlines on Tuesday.
The Lancet's editor-in-chief Dr Richard Horton claimed that the letter highlighted that there was 'no scientific consensus' over Boris Johnson's decision to ditch most remaining lockdown curbs next week.
However, among the 1,246 purported scientists who'd put their name to the document by last night, MailOnline found social workers, midwives, dentists and trainee doctors.
There were also a handful of signatories who simply had 'medic' as their profession or a blank space beside their name.
MailOnline was able to sign the letter using a fictitious name and title, however, the pseudonym was not added to the published list of signees at the time of writing.
READ MORE
The Lancet has been plagued with controversy with editor-in-chief Richard Horton publishing a statement in 2015 declaring that a shocking amount of published research is unreliable at best, if not completely false:
The Lancet also published a study on May 22nd stating Hydroxychloroquine had no value in treating COVID-19 and even suggested increased risk of mortality. The study was retracted in early June after a considerable blowback from the scientific community:
Horton himself has since been accused of using The Lancet to pursue political causes and stifle scientific debate: