A federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by medical groups against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seeking to block his overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule - because nothing says "public health" like letting a guy who once wrestled a bear decide which diseases babies should just tough out.
In January, Kennedy and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made sweeping changes to the childhood vaccine schedule, reducing the number of recommended diseases to be vaccinated against from 18 to 11. The CDC also dropped universal recommendations that all babies should be vaccinated against hepatitis A, hepatitis B, RSV, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis - presumably on the theory that infants should build character through suffering.
Kennedy also fired and replaced every member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with people highly skeptical of vaccines. It's a bold strategy: if you can't win the scientific debate, just replace the scientists.
Medical groups led by the American Academy of Pediatrics, including the American College of Physicians and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, sued. The lawsuit claimed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and the changes were made arbitrarily and capriciously - which, to be fair, is also how one might describe the average Kennedy family dinner conversation.
A district court judge initially ruled in their favor and temporarily blocked changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and paused any decisions made by the committee, ruling that Kennedy replaced the members "unlawfully." The judge apparently still believes in quaint notions like "following the law" and "listening to doctors."
According to the medical groups, changes to vaccine recommendations should be made only with scientific justification. Any efforts to degrade the current recommendations could lead to reduced coverage, increased vaccination hesitancy, increased risk of the spread of preventable diseases, and increased mortality. In other words, the exact opposite of what a health secretary is supposed to do - unless the job description has been quietly updated to "make things worse, but with more press conferences."
The Trump administration appealed, and a hearing on that appeal is set for Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District. So the fate of America's childhood vaccine schedule now rests in the hands of a panel of judges - because who better to practice medicine than people who went to law school?
Welcome to The Hill's Healthcare newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi - every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.
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