No, a '2024 Study' Did Not Find That 5.2% of Newborns Skipped Vitamin K Shots — The Source Doesn't Exist
“A 2024 study found that 5.2% of newborns (approximately 200,000 infants) did not receive vitamin K injections between 2017 and 2024”
The argument in brief
A claim circulating online states that a 2024 study found 5.2% of newborns — around 200,000 infants — went without vitamin K injections between 2017 and 2024. No such study can be found in any published scientific literature. Real research puts refusal rates far lower, between 0.3% and 3%, depending on location and birth setting.
Why it spread
Specific numbers feel scientific. When a claim includes a percentage, a year range, and a large round figure like 200,000, it reads like a real study even when no study exists. In communities already skeptical of medical interventions, a data-point that seems to show widespread refusal can feel like validation — proof that others share the same doubts. That emotional resonance makes the claim easy to share and hard to question.
A specific-sounding statistic has been circulating: a supposed 2024 study found that 5.2% of newborns, roughly 200,000 infants, did not receive vitamin K injections over a seven-year period. The claim is unverifiable. No published, peer-reviewed study matching those figures — the 5.2% rate, the 200,000 infant count, or the 2017–2024 timeframe — can be identified in the scientific literature.
What the actual research shows is quite different. A 2018 study published in Pediatrics found vitamin K refusal rates ranging from 0.3% to 3.0%, with wide variation depending on the hospital and whether the birth happened at home. A 2013 CDC report linked refusal to vaccine-hesitant parents but found no single national rate close to 5.2%. The American Academy of Pediatrics, which strongly recommends vitamin K for all newborns, does not publish a figure anywhere near that number.
It is worth taking the strongest version of the concern seriously: vitamin K refusal is a real and growing problem in some communities, and even lower refusal rates carry genuine risk. Vitamin K deficiency bleeding is rare but serious, and entirely preventable. The worry behind this claim is not baseless — but inflating the numbers with an unverifiable source does not help the cause.
The precise figures in this claim — 5.2%, 200,000 infants, a specific seven-year window — have the feel of a real study but match nothing in the published record. The claim may be a misquote, a misreading of a smaller regional study, or a fabrication. Without a traceable citation, it cannot be treated as fact.
This kind of misinformation is worth watching for because it works in two directions at once. In vaccine-hesitant communities, it can be used to suggest that refusal is common and therefore acceptable. In other circles, an inflated number can cause unnecessary alarm. Either way, a statistic without a source is not evidence — it is a rumor wearing a lab coat.
Sources
- CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) - Vitamin K Refusal
A 2013 CDC MMWR report found that vitamin K refusal was associated with vaccine-hesitant parents, but did not cite a 5.2% refusal rate nationally. Rates varied significantly by region and birth setting.
- Pediatrics Journal - Vitamin K Prophylaxis Refusal
A 2018 study in Pediatrics found vitamin K refusal rates ranging from 0.3% to 3.0% depending on the hospital and region, with higher rates among home births. No national figure of 5.2% was reported.
- PubMed - Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding and Prophylaxis Trends
No peer-reviewed study published in 2024 with the specific claim of 5.2% refusal rate and approximately 200,000 infants between 2017-2024 could be identified in available literature.
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) - Vitamin K Policy Statement
The AAP strongly recommends vitamin K prophylaxis for all newborns, but does not publish a 5.2% national refusal statistic. Estimates of refusal in the literature are generally lower and vary widely.
- Birth Defects Research - Vitamin K Refusal Trends
Studies on vitamin K refusal trends show increasing refusal rates in some populations linked to vaccine hesitancy, but specific figures of 5.2% across a 7-year national period have not been confirmed in published research.
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