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On Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and other leading medical groups sued U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK), for making unilateral, unscientific changes to federal vaccine policy they say are an “assault on science, public health, and evidence-based medicine.” AAP, American College of Physicians (ACP), American Public Health Association (APHA), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA), Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), and a pregnant physician, filed suit in American Academy of Pediatrics v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to defend vaccine policy. Plaintiffs in the case are suing the HHS and RFK for acting arbitrarily and capriciously when he unilaterally changed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people. As CMM previously reported, he has also dismissed 17 members of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and appointed replacements who have historically espoused anti-vaccine viewpoints. This committee has proceeded to undermine the science behind vaccine recommendations. The lawsuit asks for preliminary and permanent injunctions to enjoin RFK’s rescissions of COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and a declaratory judgment pronouncing the change in recommendations as unlawful. “The American Academy of Pediatrics is alarmed by recent decisions by HHS to alter the routine childhood immunization schedule,” said Dr. Susan J. Kressly, M.D., FAAP, and AAP president. “These decisions are founded in fear and not evidence, and will make our children and communities more vulnerable to infectious diseases like measles, whooping cough, and influenza. Our immunization system has long been a cornerstone of U.S. public health, but actions by the current administration are jeopardizing its success. As we pursue action to restore science to U.S. vaccination policy, AAP will continue to provide the science-based, trusted recommendations that every American deserves.” The lawsuit charges that a coordinated set of actions by HHS and RFK were designed to mislead, confuse, and gradually desensitize the public to anti-vaccine and anti-science rhetoric, and that he has routinely flouted federal procedural rules. These actions include blocking CDC communications, canceling vaccine panel meetings at the Food and Drug Administration and CDC without explanation, announcing studies to investigate nonexistent links between vaccines and autism, unilaterally overriding immunization recommendations, and replacing the diverse members of ACIP with a slate of individuals biased against sound vaccine facts. The anonymous individual plaintiff in the lawsuit is a pregnant woman who is at immediate risk for being unable to get the Covid-19 vaccine booster because of the Secretarial Directive, despite her high risk for exposure to infectious diseases from working as a physician at a hospital. “The American College of Physicians is highly concerned about the administration’s recent actions regarding ACIP and the negative impact it will have on our patients and our physician practices,” said Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, and ACP president. “Destabilizing a trusted source and its evidence-based process for helping guide decision-making for vaccines to protect the public health in our country erodes public confidence in our government’s ability to ensure the health of the American public and contributes to confusion and uncertainty. As physicians, we require reliable, science-based guidance that is based on the best available evidence, developed through an evidence-based and transparent process, to ensure the safety, welfare, and lives of our patients.” This is not the first time the AAP has sued the federal government. In 1983, the AAP and other medical groups sued HHS over a rule related to life-sustaining treatment for infants with critical illness or disabilities. The AAP sued the FDA in 2016 for delaying implementation of graphic warnings for cigarettes and in 2018 for postponing a review of e-cigarettes and cigars. As CMM previously reported, last month, the American Medical Association (AMA) and 79 leading medical societies reaffirm their support for vaccination as the best way to protect against the flu, COVID-19, and RSV and their potentially serious complications.

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