WASHINGTON: US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced he was dismissing all current members of a key federal vaccine advisory panel, accusing them of conflicts of interest \u2014 his latest salvo against the nation\u2019s immunization policies.
\nThe removal of all 17 experts of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) was revealed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed and an official press release.
\nKennedy, who has spent two decades promoting vaccine misinformation, cast the move as essential to restoring public trust, claiming the committee had been compromised by financial ties to pharmaceutical companies.
\n\u201cToday we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,\u201d he said in a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services.
\n\u201cThe public must know that unbiased science \u2014 evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest \u2014 guides the recommendations of our health agencies.\u201d
\nIn his op-ed, Kennedy claimed the panel was \u201cplagued with persistent conflicts of interest\u201d and had become \u201clittle more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine.\u201d
\nHe added that new members were being considered to replace those ousted \u2014 all of whom were appointed under former president Joe Biden.
\nACIP members are chosen for their recognized expertise and are required to disclose potential conflicts of interest.
\n\u201cRFK Jr. and the Trump administration are taking a wrecking ball to the programs that keep Americans safe and healthy,\u201d Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said in response.
\n\u201cOf course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,\u201d Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor who expressed concern about Kennedy\u2019s track record during his Senate nomination but ultimately voted in his favor, wrote on X.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I\u2019ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFixing a problem that doesn\u2019t exist\u201d
\nThe decision drew sharp criticism from Paul Offit, a pediatrician and leading expert on virology and immunology who served on the panel from 1998 to 2003.
\n\u201cHe believes that anybody who speaks well of vaccines, or recommends vaccines, must be deeply in the pocket of industry,\u201d Offit told AFP. \u201cHe\u2019s fixing a problem that doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d
\n\u201cWe are witnessing an escalating effort by the Administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines,\u201d added Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a statement.
\nOnce a celebrated environmental lawyer, Kennedy pivoted from the mid-2000s to public health \u2014 chairing a nonprofit that discouraged routine childhood immunizations and amplified false claims, including the long-debunked theory that the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism.
\nSince taking office, he has curtailed access to Covid-19 shots and continued to raise fears around the MMR vaccine \u2014 even as the United States faces its worst measles outbreak in years, with three reported deaths and more than 1,100 confirmed cases.
\nExperts warn the true case count is likely far higher.
\n\u201cHow can this country have confidence that the people RFK Jr. wants on the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices are people we can trust?\u201d Offit asked.
\nHe recalled that during US President Donald Trump\u2019s first term, several states formed independent vaccine advisory panels after the administration pressured federal health agencies to prematurely approve Covid-19 vaccines ahead of the 2020 election.
\nThat kind of fragmentation, Offit warned, could happen again.
\nACIP is scheduled to hold its next meeting at the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta from June 25 to June 27.
\nVaccines for anthrax, Covid-19, human papillomavirus, influenza, Lyme disease, respiratory syncytial virus, and more are on the agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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