When a federal vaccine advisory panel cannot meet, the government’s process for recommending shots stalls. The fight over who sits on that panel has now reached a federal appeals court.
In a recent article by Law360, the publication reported on the appeal by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the First Circuit. The appeal seeks to undo a district court order that froze Kennedy’s appointments to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Richard H. Hughes IV, a Member of the Firm in Epstein Becker Green’s Health Care & Life Sciences practice, represents the medical organizations challenging those appointments and spoke to the stakes.
The lower court had stayed 13 of the 15 appointments Kennedy made after removing the prior committee, finding the new members lacked the immunization background the law requires. It also paused the committee’s recent decisions. The government counters that no statute lets a court review individual advisory appointments and that the order has left federal vaccine policy unable to function.
"Instead, the government seeks to preserve his ability to bypass established safeguards, sideline vaccine expertise, and undermine the advisory process Congress chose to protect," Hughes said.
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To discuss this perspective, contact Richard H. Hughes IV at RHHughes@ebglaw.com.
