Warren Slams RFK Jr. For “Reckless” Decision to Fire Vaccine Experts, Presses on New Appointees’ Conflicts of Interest, Anti-Vaccine Views
New panel will meet for the first time tomorrow without ethics disclosures or conflict of interest guidelines in place
“You have promised that, as HHS Secretary, you would root out conflicts of interest and promote ‘radical transparency,’ but you are failing miserably to meet this promise as you rush to impose your anti-vaccine agenda on the American public.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), on the eve of a key committee meeting, slammed Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (RFK Jr.) for his “reckless” and “shortsighted” decision to fire all 17 independent members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replace them with eight members who appear to be hand-picked to advance RFK Jr.’s own anti-vaccine agenda. With the new panel set to meet for the first time tomorrow, Senator Warren pressed RFK Jr. on his own conflicts of interests, and those of his appointees, raising concerns about their ability to make public health decisions to benefit Americans rather than line their own pockets.
The letter follows Senator Bill Cassidy’s (R-La.) push to delay the ACIP meeting, citing the appointees’ lack of relevant experience and apparent anti-vaccine bias.
“As presently constituted, the committee lacks the qualifications and credibility to offer the nation credible advice on vaccines. You have promised that, as HHS Secretary, you would root out conflicts of interest and promote ‘radical transparency,’ but you are failing miserably to meet this promise as you rush to impose your anti-vaccine agenda on the American public,” wrote Senator Warren.
As an expert panel of the CDC, ACIP is responsible for developing recommendations for the use of vaccines by the American public. Decisions made by the committee have significant implications, affecting parents’ confidence in vaccines, physicians’ recommendations on who should receive them, and insurers’ coverage decisions.
RFK Jr. recently purged the entire nonpartisan panel, claiming — with no evidence — that all 17 members had conflicts of interest that prevented them from effectively serving on the committee. But RFK Jr.'s hand-picked replacements are known vaccine skeptics, appear to lack relevant training, and have their own financial conflicts that present serious conflicts.
During RFK Jr.’s confirmation process, he specifically pledged that he would end conflicts of interest on ACIP and “create an honest, unbiased, science-driven HHS.” It remains unclear how — if at all — his new appointees have been vetted for conflicts of interest, and the short timeframe from their nomination to tomorrow’s meeting means it would have been impossible for them to go through the typically rigorous vetting process for committee members.
“While you’ve declared that previous efforts to guard against conflicts of interest on the panel were insufficient, you appear to have made no effort to ensure that your hand-picked appointees even declare their conflicts of interest, let alone meet a heightened standard,” wrote Senator Warren.
With the panel set to meet for the first time tomorrow, a financial disclosure for only one of the eight new members is publicly available on the CDC website, and it remains unclear how conflict of interest rules will be applied. The meeting agenda will be truncated because the new appointees are reportedly “not yet in a position to deal with all the agenda items.” Even so, the panel is set to discuss recommendations for multiple key vaccines, including RSV, COVID-19, Influenza, and MMR.
RFK Jr. also has his own unresolved conflicts of interest. At his confirmation hearing, Senator Warren questioned him on his biggest conflict: a lucrative arrangement with the law firm Wisner Baum in vaccine-related cases. Senator Warren specifically raised concerns about RFK Jr. financially benefiting as HHS Secretary by strengthening anti-vaccine lawsuits — including by naming anti-vaccine members to ACIP.
“Your decision to reconstitute ACIP with members that share your anti-vaccine views therefore raises questions about your and your family’s ability to cash in from the dangerous decisions the panel appears prepared to make,” wrote Senator Warren.
To understand RFK Jr.’s “haphazard” decision to purge ACIP and replace its members with a hand-picked panel of “unqualified and unvetted vaccine skeptics with their own troubling conflicts,” Senator Warren pressed the Secretary for information on the termination of the previous 17 experts, the appointments of the new members, and processes for vetting and eliminating conflicts of interest.
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