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Both parties in the high-stakes case filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) against U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have until 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, to respond to a request by Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and others to join the lawsuit as defendants.
U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy responded in less than 48 hours to CHD’s emergency motion to intervene in AAP’s lawsuit.
The move effectively delays the judge’s pending ruling on AAP’s request for an injunction to block recent changes to the federal vaccine schedule and shut down the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine advisory panel meeting, scheduled for Feb. 25-27.
Attorney Rick Jaffe told The Defender that Murphy’s response suggests the court is giving “serious consideration” to CHD’s request to intervene in AAP’s high-profile case against Kennedy and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Jaffe represents CHD and four other plaintiffs in a separate lawsuit against the AAP. That suit accuses the AAP of running a decades-long racketeering scheme to defraud American families about the safety of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) vaccine schedule.
New developments may weaken AAP’s case for emergency injunction
In July 2025, the AAP and several other medical groups sued Kennedy and HHS over changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women.
In November 2025, the groups amended their complaint, asking the court to disband the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and rebuild the advisory committee under court supervision.
On Jan. 19, they submitted another amended complaint, this time challenging ACIP’s votes to change the recommendations for the hepatitis B and COVID-19 vaccines and to remove thimerosal from flu vaccines.
In a hearing held Feb. 13, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts heard the groups’ motion for a preliminary injunction to block changes to federal vaccine recommendations and cancel this month’s ACIP meeting, pending the outcome of their lawsuit against Kennedy and HHS.
However, new developments since the Feb. 13 hearing directly affect the AAP’s requests for emergency relief. On Thursday, HHS canceled the ACIP meeting, eliminating the need for the court to rule on that part of the emergency injunction.
The AAP had speculated that ACIP members would vote to eliminate coverage for some vaccines under the CDC’s Vaccines for Children Program. However, lawyers for HHS submitted arguments contradicting AAP’s speculation — even if the meeting had gone forward as scheduled, such a vote wouldn’t have taken place.
That leaves the AAP’s request to block recent changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. During the Feb. 13 hearing, Murphy asked for clarification about the legal implications of moving some vaccines to the shared decision-making category.
But as HHS, Jaffe and others have pointed out, those changes don’t affect the availability of those vaccines or insurance coverage. If the vaccines are still available and covered, it’s unclear how the changes pose an immediate threat to parents or children.
The next hearing on the case, scheduled before CHD asked to intervene in the case, is set for March 4.
