Doctors and public health organizations sue Kennedy over vaccine policy changes

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks at an election campaign event for Donald Trump in Milwaukee on Nov. 1, 2024. (Morry Gash / AP Photo)

NEW YORK — A coalition of doctors’ groups and public health organizations sued the U.S. government on Monday over the decision to stop recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for most children and pregnant women.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association and four other groups -- along with an unnamed pregnant doctor who works in a hospital -- filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston.

U.S. health officials, following infectious disease experts’ guidance, previously had urged annual COVID-19 shots for all Americans ages 6 months and older. But in late May, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he was removing COVID-19 shots from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women.

Many health experts decried the move as confusing and accused Kennedy of disregarding the scientific review process that has been in place for decades -- in which experts publicly review current medical evidence and hash out the pros and cons of policy changes.

The new lawsuit repeats those concerns, alleging that Kennedy and other political appointees at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have flouted federal procedures and systematically attempted to mislead the public.

The lawsuit also notes recent changes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy, a leading antivaccine activist before becoming the nation’s top health official, fired the entire 17-member panel this month and replaced it with a group that includes several anti-vaccine voices.

Doctors say Kennedy’s actions are making their jobs harder -- with some patients raising doubts about all kinds of vaccines and others worried they will lose access to shots for themselves and their children.

“This is causing uncertainty and anxiety at almost every pediatric visit that involves vaccines,” said Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

And it’s happening after U.S. pediatric flu deaths hit their highest mark in 15 years and as the nation is poised to have its worst year of measles in more than three decades, she added.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said Kennedy “stands by his CDC reforms.”

Also joining the suit are the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

The pregnant doctor, who is listed in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe,” works at a Massachusetts hospital. She wants a COVID-19 booster to protect her unborn child and argues Kennedy’s decision is making it harder to get the shot, according to the lawsuit.

In a press call, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs said the woman had difficulty getting a COVID-19 vaccination at a pharmacy and other sites, but issued a correction later in the day to say has not yet tried to get the shot.

The suit was filed in Boston because the unnamed doctor and some others in Massachusetts are among those have been affected by Kennedy’s change, attorney Richard H. Hughes IV said.

The state has figured repeatedly in U.S. public health history.

In 1721, some Boston leaders advocated for an early version of inoculation during a smallpox outbreak. Paul Revere was the first leader of Boston’s health commission. And a legal dispute in Cambridge led to a landmark 1905 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld states’ rights to compel vaccinations.

“We think it is significant and very meaningful” that the case is happening there, Hughes said.

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Mike Stobbe, The Associated Press

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