Judge sides with medical groups who challenged RFK’s vaccine policies

A federal judge has cleared the way for several prominent medical organizations to proceed with a lawsuit challenging policies enacted under U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, which they contend will lead to a decline in vaccination rates across the country.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston dismissed arguments from government lawyers who claimed the groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, lacked legal standing as they could not demonstrate direct harm from the policies. The lawsuit aims to invalidate all votes cast since June by a crucial vaccine advisory panel, whose members were personally selected by Kennedy.

Kennedy, who previously founded the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense before heading the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has long promoted views on vaccines that contradict scientific evidence. Public health experts have warned that his actions in government could expose more young people to preventable diseases.

The medical groups allege that in May, Kennedy unlawfully directed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to remove its recommendation for COVID-19 jabs for pregnant women and children from its vaccination schedules.

Further escalating concerns, Kennedy fired 17 independent experts from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in June, replacing them with individuals largely aligned with his perspectives.

This reconstituted committee subsequently voted in September to recommend COVID-19 shots only through 'shared decision-making' with a healthcare provider – a process the medical groups argue is time-consuming and could depress vaccination uptake.

The CDC adopted this recommendation for paediatric and adult patients in October, effectively withdrawing its previous broad guidance for widespread COVID vaccine availability.

The lawsuit contends that the advisory panel was unlawfully reformed, violating federal law, which mandates such committees be 'fairly balanced' and not 'inappropriately influenced' by the appointing official. Consequently, the plaintiffs seek to void all panel votes since the shake-up, including a December decision to remove the broad recommendation for all newborns to receive a hepatitis B vaccine.

The plaintiffs, which also include the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, initially filed their suit in July and have since expanded it. During a December hearing, their lawyer indicated plans to seek expedited relief ahead of the panel's next meeting, scheduled for February 25-26.