Its been proven to be the case. The question is how damaging is that in real use? Probably not much...I used to install K&N filters in everything I owned...cars, truck, motorcycles. About 20 years ago I stopped and have only used OEM air filters. While I never had an issue over 100k miles on some cars, I just figured the minor potential HP increase wasn't worth it. Air filters simply aren't that big a cost in the overall ownership.
If someone else likes them and the little bit of intake noise, by all means, I'm not stopping them.