The validity of whiplash syndrome has been a source of debate in the medical literature for many years. Some authors have published papers that suggest that whiplash injuries are impossible at certain collision speeds, others have stated that the problem is psychological, or a result of secondary financial gain. These papers contradict the majority of the literature, which shows that whiplash injuries and their sequelae are a highly prevalent problem that affects a significant proportion of the population. The authors of the current literature critique reviewed the biomedical and engineering literature relating to whiplash syndrome, searching for papers that refuted the validity of whiplash injuries. Twenty papers containing nine distinct statements refuting the validity of whiplash syndrome were found that fit the inclusion criteria. The methodology described in these papers was evaluated critically to determine if their observations regarding the validity of whiplash syndrome were scientifically sound.

The authors found that all of the included papers contained significant methodologic flaws with regard to their statements refuting the validity of whiplash syndrome. The most frequently found flaws were inadequate study size, non-representative study sample, non-representative crash conditions (for crash tests), and inappropriate study design. As a result of the current literature review, it was determined that there is no epidemiologic or scientific basis in the literature for the following statements:​ whiplash injuries do not lead to chronic pain, rear impact collisions that do not result in vehicle damage are unlikely to cause injury, whiplash trauma is biomechanically comparable to common movements of daily living, among others.