A federal judge blocks Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr’ s overhaul of a key vaccine advisory panel, ruling Monday the appointments likely violated federal law and suspending the committee’s actions, including changes to U.S. immunization recommendations.
Judge Invalidates Vaccine Panel Appointments
U.S. District Judge Brian E Murphy rules that the replacement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ members likely violates the Federal Advisory Committee Act, effectively halting the panel’s operations and invalidating votes taken over the past year.
Murphy’s order stays the appointment of 13 advisers selected after Kennedy dismissed all 17 existing committee members in June. The decision also blocks recent policy changes affecting routine immunization recommendations.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics against the US Department of Health and Human Services, which argued the restructuring undermined the scientific integrity of vaccine guidance in the United States.
“This is a major victory,” said attorney Richard Hughes IV, who represents the pediatric group in the case.
Murphy writes in the ruling that the sweeping changes to the committee and its decisions appear “arbitrary and capricious,” a legal standard often used to challenge government actions that lack a rational basis.
Court Suspends Controversial Vaccine Policy Changes
The Robert F Kennedy Jr order also blocks significant revisions to the national vaccine schedule issued in January. At that time, federal health officials altered roughly one-third of the country’s routine immunization recommendations.
Among the decisions now invalidated are votes to ban thimerosal, a preservative used in some flu vaccines, and to end recommendations for the combined measles, mumps, and rubella and chickenpox vaccine. Another vote eliminated the universal birth dose recommendation for the hepatitis B vaccine.
Because those votes were cast by advisers whose appointments have now been stayed, Murphy rules they cannot stand.
The decision immediately disrupts the advisory committee’s schedule. The panel was set to meet later this week, but the session has now been postponed, according to a Health and Human Services official.
Legal Fight Could Shape Future Vaccine Policy
The ruling sets up a likely legal battle over the future of the nation’s vaccine advisory process. HHS officials signal they plan to challenge the decision.
“HHS looks forward to this Robert F Kennedy Jr decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing,” spokesperson Andrew Nixon says in a statement.
Legal experts say the administration will probably appeal the ruling and contest whether the plaintiffs have standing to bring the case.
“They will likely appeal and try to challenge it on standing,” says Dorit Reiss, a professor at UC Law San Francisco. “I don’t know how the higher courts will go on that.”
For now, Reiss notes the decision restores earlier vaccine recommendations and may help maintain access to immunizations in states that link pharmacy authority and insurance coverage directly to the federal advisory committee’s guidance.
The postponed meeting had been expected to review possible long-term effects following COVID-19 vaccination, according to a leaked memo first reported by The New York Times.
Committee co-chair Robert Malone criticizes the leak on social media on Monday, writing that the situation is triggering “a cascade of unintended consequences.”
Public health advocates say the ruling protects the integrity of vaccine science.
“The committee continues to try and push unscientific and dangerous misinformation about vaccines,” says Elizabeth Jacobs of Defend Public Health, adding that the panel’s restructuring replaced qualified experts with advisers lacking relevant credentials.
The case now leaves the federal vaccine advisory system in limbo while courts determine whether Kennedy’s changes can legally stand.
