A coalition of medical organizations have sued the Department of Health and Human Services and its secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alleging the withdrawal of vaccine recommendations have harmed public health.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in western Massachusetts, aims to overturn Kennedy’s May decision to have the government no longer recommend the COVID-19 vaccine for children and pregnant women.
Some pregnant women were impeded from getting vaccinated, according to the suit, whose plaintiffs include one such woman identified as Jane Doe, a physician whose job at a hospital means she faces higher odds of exposure to the virus.
Six leading medical groups joined the suit: the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Physicians, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance.
Kennedy’s change in vaccine guidelines, which some medical professionals must legally adhere to, is part of his crusade against vaccines. Last month, he fired all 17 members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACPIC).
“He’s actively undermining vaccine safety and efficacy and confidence in vaccines by everything he’s done,” American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin told The Washington Post.
Benjamin also told The New York Times that Kennedy’s removal of vaccine guidance for pregnant women and children “didn’t follow the normal process.”
He added: “From a scientific perspective, a pregnant woman, by her very nature, is immunocompromised.”
A HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
But the agency previously defended Kennedy’s work following his ouster of all ACPIC members, telling the Daily Beast that “under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS is committed to following the gold standard of scientific integrity.”
“Vaccine policy decisions will be based on objective data, transparent analysis, and evidence–not conflicts of interest or industry influence,” they claimed.
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