The American Academy of Pediatrics and several other medical groups have asked a federal judge to declare recent changes to the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule unlawful, arguing HHS bypassed the scientific review and public input processes required by law.
The groups filed an amended complaint Jan. 19 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenging the CDC’s Jan. 5 decision to cut the number of vaccines routinely recommended for children and adolescents from 18 to 11. Six vaccines — those for hepatitis A and B, influenza, rotavirus, RSV and meningococcal disease — are no longer universally recommended for all children and instead fall under either shared clinical decision-making or recommendations for certain high-risk groups.
The latest legal challenge builds on a lawsuit the AAP and five other medical groups filed in July. The plaintiffs argue changes to federal vaccine policy made under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. violate the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires agencies to follow evidence-based processes, allow for public comment and provide scientific justification.
The broader lawsuit also challenges Mr. Kennedy’s May directive to remove COVID vaccine recommendations for healthy children and pregnant women, his June dismissal of all members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and subsequent appointments of individuals with a history of anti-vaccine rhetoric. It also seeks to reverse ACIP’s December vote to end universal hepatitis B vaccination at birth for certain infants.
The plaintiffs — which also include the American College of Physicians, American Public Health Association, Infectious Diseases Society of America, Massachusetts Public Health Alliance and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine — plan to file a motion for preliminary injunction in January that would pause implementation of the new schedule. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Feb. 13.
The Trump administration has pushed back on the plaintiffs’ effort to broaden the scope of their lawsuit to include the CDC’s Jan. 5 immunization schedule changes, according to court records cited by Reuters.
Becker’s has reached out to HHS for comment and will update the report if more information becomes available.
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