Dr. Robert Malone, vice chair of the federal committee that recommends vaccines to Americans, angrily resigned his position on Tuesday.
The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is currently in judicial limbo. A federal judge ruled last week that the advisers, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., did not have the expertise needed to make vaccine recommendations and prevented them from meeting as planned this month.
The judge also blocked all of the committee’s actions to date, including decisions to rescind recommendations for some childhood vaccines.
The Department of Health and Human Services has indicated that it will appeal the ruling but has not said when. Dr. Malone indicated that he would not rejoin the committee even if the ruling were to be overturned or if Mr. Kennedy announced a new slate of advisers.
“If offered the opportunity to participate in a relaunched A.C.I.P., I will respectfully decline,” Dr. Malone said in a text message.
“This was not an impulsive decision,” he said.
“Hundreds of hours of uncompensated labor, incredible hate from many quarters, hostile press, internal bickering, weaponized leaking, sabotage,” he added. “I have better things to do.”
His decision to step down was previously reported by Roll Call. The health department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dr. Malone was appointed to the vaccine panel in June, after Mr. Kennedy had fired all 17 of its previous members. A staunch opponent of mRNA Covid vaccines, Dr. Malone had been hinting that at its next meeting, the committee would take steps to curtail use of the shots.
In ruling against Mr. Kennedy and the committee earlier this month, Judge Brian Murphy, of the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, said the panelists “appear distinctly unqualified” to make vaccine recommendations.
Dr. Malone took offense at those remarks, saying the judge had overlooked his contributions to mRNA technology. Dr. Malone was the first person to use the innovation that eventually powered the Pfizer and Moderna Covid vaccines, although his goal at the time was unrelated to vaccines.
The judge “slandered me” and “completely overlooked my actual C.V. and experience,” he told The New York Times last week.
Dr. Malone and other panelists sometimes engaged in angry debates at the ACIP’s meetings, highly unusual for the once-staid committee.
Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, who often disagreed with Dr. Malone, said the vice chair’s stated desire to step down to avoid drama “contrasts with his prior dramatic and confusing statements.”
“It is good that Dr. Malone wishes now to decrease drama regarding vaccines,” Dr. Hibbeln said.
Dr. Malone also feuded with the staff at the health department after the ruling. He claimed in social media posts that the administration would name new members to the committee rather than appeal the ruling.
A spokesman for the department said at the time that Dr. Malone’s comments were baseless speculation. The feud “was the last straw,” Dr. Malone said in a message.
Apoorva Mandavilli reports on science and global health for The Times, with a focus on infectious diseases and pandemics and the public health agencies that try to manage them.
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