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In advance of this week’s meetings of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and several other groups filed an updated federal lawsuit seeking to disband the panel, overturn its recent recommendations and rebuild the committee under court supervision.
In June, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), citing conflicts of interest, and appointed the first of eight new members.
In July, the AAP sued Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), alleging the new ACIP members unilaterally changed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations without any evidence.
In September, Kennedy appointed five new members.
The groups accused Kennedy of upending long-standing vaccine policy and creating instability, MedPage Today reported.
“Pediatricians have seen firsthand the harm created by the disruptive and politicized decisions to overturn decades of evidence-based federal guidance on immunizations,” AAP President Susan J. Kressly said in a statement. “These changes have caused fear, decreased vaccine confidence, and barriers for families to access vaccines.”
Kressly said the stakes are immediate, arguing that children are already suffering “avoidable illnesses and hospitalizations” as federal processes are disrupted.
The plaintiffs — which include the AAP, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the Massachusetts Public Health Association and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine — are urging the court to intervene quickly.
The ACIP panel today voted to end the universal recommendation that all newborns receive the hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine within 12-24 hours of birth.
AAP attorney formerly worked for Moderna and Merck
The expanded complaint reiterates the plaintiffs’ central argument: ACIP, as currently composed, is unlawfully constituted and is making policy without the scientific rigor required under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Richard H. Hughes IV, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, told MedPage Today that the committee “shouldn’t be making policy” and that the groups want it dissolved and rebuilt.
Hughes acknowledged there is no precedent for a federal advisory panel being reconstituted under court supervision, but said he remains optimistic.
Hughes previously served as Moderna’s vice president of public policy from 2020 to 2022, when the company marketed its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, and earlier worked for Merck.
Critics cite these ties as evidence that the plaintiffs are protecting an entrenched system.
Kim Mack Rosenberg, general counsel for Children’s Health Defense (CHD), argued after the initial filing that the “medical cartel” has financial incentives to preserve the status quo.
CHD Senior Research Scientist Karl Jablonowski also noted that “several plaintiffs, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, received millions of dollars from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to promote COVID-19 injections.”
The AAP lists pharma giants Merck, Sanofi and Moderna among its donors.
“People who make a lot of money pushing COVID vaccines want to force a recommendation for more COVID vaccines,” Jablonowski told The Defender.
Plaintiffs cite flawed reviews, disputed recommendations in legal fight
The updated complaint challenges a series of ACIP decisions since the panel was restructured. It cites what plaintiffs call inaccuracies at ACIP’s September meeting — including a presentation referencing alleged DNA contamination in COVID-19 vaccines.
It also argues that the panel failed to conduct a systematic evidence review beforehand, and that information on rare COVID-19 vaccine side effects received disproportionate emphasis, according to MedPage Today.
The AAP, in its November statement, also objected to new recommendations against thimerosal-containing flu shots and to separating the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) and varicella vaccines for children under 4.
The litigation stems from a broader conflict that began in July, when the six medical organizations sued Kennedy after he altered COVID-19 vaccine guidance for children and pregnant women and removed long-standing ACIP members.
The July filing called the new recommendations “baseless and uninformed” and warned they put children and pregnant women at “grave and immediate risk.”
The complaint also names the HHS, the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and its director Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its commissioner Dr. Marty Makary.
Tensions escalated again in August when the AAP, the American Medical Association and other major medical groups were told they would no longer participate in CDC vaccine policy working groups because they were considered “special interest groups” with inherent biases.
The organizations issued a joint statement calling the move irresponsible and dangerous.
The AAP released its own immunization schedule in August, along with an updated policy statement in Pediatrics emphasizing that universal immunization is essential to protect both children and those who care for them.
Related articles in The Defender
- RFK Jr. Hit With Lawsuit Over Changes to COVID Vaccine Policies for Kids, Pregnant Women
- AAP, AMA Booted From CDC Vaccine Advisory Working Groups
- Lawyer Leading Lawsuit Against RFK Jr. Over COVID Vaccines Used to Work for Moderna
- ACIP Votes to Recommend Kids Don’t Get MMRV Vaccine Until Age 4, Delays Vote on Hep B for Newborns
- CDC Vaccine Advisers Vote to Stop Recommending Flu Shots That Contain Thimerosal
