Trump administration appeals court ruling halting CDC vaccine panel changes
The US District Court's March 16 injunction nullified the appointment of Kennedy's allies, citing procedural violations and lack of qualifications, prompting the government to file an appeal and plan to disband the current committee.
The Trump administration has formally filed an appeal against a US District Court ruling that temporarily halted changes to the CDC's vaccine advisory panel. The legal action challenges a decision issued by Judge Brian Murphy on March 16, which nullified the appointment of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new advisors and reversed alterations to the childhood vaccination schedule.
Judge Murphy's ruling determined that Kennedy's advisors were unqualified and that their appointment, alongside changes to federal vaccine policy, violated established procedures. The lawsuit was initiated by the American Academy of Pediatrics, which argued that the new appointees lacked the necessary expertise and that Kennedy's actions exceeded his authority under federal law.
In a significant development regarding the committee's future, the government has indicated it intends to disband the current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and form a new one rather than wait for the appeal process to conclude. Officials stated that this approach would be faster than filing and prosecuting an appeal, effectively sidestepping the immediate legal freeze.
The legal dispute stems from earlier arguments by government lawyers who claimed Kennedy's authority over vaccine policy was unreviewable. Judge Murphy rejected this assertion, noting that the administration could not direct Americans to inject themselves with the measles virus instead of receiving the vaccine. Consequently, the temporary injunction prevented the ACIP from holding a scheduled meeting in late March to discuss alleged COVID-19 vaccine injuries.
Following the ruling, anti-vaccine activist Robert Malone, who served as vice chair of the ACIP, resigned from the committee after a public dispute with an HHS spokesperson. Malone had initially claimed the committee had been disbanded, a statement an HHS spokesperson later contradicted, describing such assertions as baseless speculation unless officially announced.
Kennedy had previously rewritten the ACIP charter to allow him to appoint allies without specific expertise in vaccines and shifted the panel's focus toward alleged vaccine injuries. The committee is now scheduled to meet again in late June, though no agenda has been set for the upcoming session.
