According to the August 11 retraction notice, BMJ Public Health retracted the paper 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.” According to the detailed retraction notice, which is over 700 words long, Kaspers and Huibers requested the retraction alongside their institution “due to concerns about misinterpretation of the paper by others and subsequent public health risk,” but did not agree with the journal’s determination the paper contained misinformation. Lead author Mostert resigned in 2024 after the Princess Máxima Center announced it would be investigating the paper, she said at a hearing on June 3 before the U.S.