Latest news with #DrRobertMalone
CNN
24-06-2025
- Health
- CNN
CDC vaccine advisory meeting should be postponed amid bias concerns, Cassidy says
FacebookTweetLink Follow Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on Monday night called for federal health officials to postpone this week's meetings of outside vaccine advisers, citing a small, newly appointed panel and concerns about biases against vaccines. Cassidy's push to delay the meeting comes after multiple efforts from the Louisiana doctor to ensure that US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would not stoke uncertainty over vaccine safety. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, grilled Kennedy on his vaccine views earlier this year before ultimately voting to confirm him as HHS secretary, saying they would keep in close contact about vaccine action. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is convening its Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices on Wednesday and Thursday. The meeting has been scheduled for some time, but Kennedy dismissed the 17 existing members of the committee this month and named eight new appointees two days later. Among the new appointees are Dr. Robert Malone, who has advocated against mRNA vaccines, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who has questioned vaccine safety. Both have served as paid witnesses in cases against vaccine manufacturers. Other new members include Dr. Retsef Levi, an IT professor of operations management who co-authored a study suggesting a link between Covid-19 vaccines and heart problems, and Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse aligned with the National Vaccine Information Center, which advocates for vaccine exemptions. 'Although the appointees to ACIP have scientific credentials, many do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology,' Cassidy wrote on X on Monday. 'In particular, some lack experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.' He further said that the meeting should not take place when there is no permanent CDC director. The administration's nominee for that post, Dr. Susan Monarez, is due to appear for her confirmation hearing before the HELP Committee on Wednesday morning, the same day the advisory panel is set to convene. The administration withdrew its first nominee for CDC director, former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, in March amid senators' concerns about his vaccine views and the prospect that multiple Republicans would vote against his nomination. Cassidy had expressed reservations earlier this year about voting for Kennedy's nomination, asking the longtime vaccine safety critic during a HELP Committee confirmation hearing whether he would listen to the science on the issue. 'Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me. Can I trust that that is now in the past? Can data and information change your opinion, or will you only look for data supporting a predetermined conclusion?' he said during closing remarks in Kennedy's January confirmation hearing. The nominee had said earlier in the hearing that 'news reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety.' Cassidy ultimately voted to confirm Kennedy, saying in Senate floor remarks that he had secured assurances that the secretary would protect public confidence in vaccination. 'Regarding vaccines, Mr. Kennedy has been insistent that he just wants good science and to ensure safety. But on this topic, the science is good, the science is credible. Vaccines save lives. They are safe. They do not cause autism,' Cassidy said February 4. He went on to say that he recognizes that parents could need reassurances that vaccines are safe but that confidence in the science should not be undermined. 'To this end, Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I will have an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship if he is confirmed. We will meet or speak multiple times a month,' Cassidy said. Yet in his X post on Monday, the senator was stark. 'The meeting should be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation – as required by law – including those with more direct relevant expertise,' he wrote. Spokespeople for HHS and Cassidy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CNN
24-06-2025
- Health
- CNN
CDC vaccine advisory meeting should be postponed amid bias concerns, Cassidy says
FacebookTweetLink Follow Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy on Monday night called for federal health officials to postpone this week's meetings of outside vaccine advisers, citing a small, newly appointed panel and concerns about biases against vaccines. Cassidy's push to delay the meeting comes after multiple efforts from the Louisiana doctor to ensure that US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would not stoke uncertainty over vaccine safety. Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, grilled Kennedy on his vaccine views earlier this year before ultimately voting to confirm him as HHS secretary, saying they would keep in close contact about vaccine action. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is convening its Advisory Committee on Immunizations Practices on Wednesday and Thursday. The meeting has been scheduled for some time, but Kennedy dismissed the 17 existing members of the committee this month and named eight new appointees two days later. Among the new appointees are Dr. Robert Malone, who has advocated against mRNA vaccines, and Dr. Martin Kulldorff, who has questioned vaccine safety. Both have served as paid witnesses in cases against vaccine manufacturers. Other new members include Dr. Retsef Levi, an IT professor of operations management who co-authored a study suggesting a link between Covid-19 vaccines and heart problems, and Dr. Vicky Pebsworth, a nurse aligned with the National Vaccine Information Center, which advocates for vaccine exemptions. 'Although the appointees to ACIP have scientific credentials, many do not have significant experience studying microbiology, epidemiology or immunology,' Cassidy wrote on X on Monday. 'In particular, some lack experience studying new technologies such as mRNA vaccines, and may even have a preconceived bias against them.' He further said that the meeting should not take place when there is no permanent CDC director. The administration's nominee for that post, Dr. Susan Monarez, is due to appear for her confirmation hearing before the HELP Committee on Wednesday morning, the same day the advisory panel is set to convene. The administration withdrew its first nominee for CDC director, former Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon, in March amid senators' concerns about his vaccine views and the prospect that multiple Republicans would vote against his nomination. Cassidy had expressed reservations earlier this year about voting for Kennedy's nomination, asking the longtime vaccine safety critic during a HELP Committee confirmation hearing whether he would listen to the science on the issue. 'Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me. Can I trust that that is now in the past? Can data and information change your opinion, or will you only look for data supporting a predetermined conclusion?' he said during closing remarks in Kennedy's January confirmation hearing. The nominee had said earlier in the hearing that 'news reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety.' Cassidy ultimately voted to confirm Kennedy, saying in Senate floor remarks that he had secured assurances that the secretary would protect public confidence in vaccination. 'Regarding vaccines, Mr. Kennedy has been insistent that he just wants good science and to ensure safety. But on this topic, the science is good, the science is credible. Vaccines save lives. They are safe. They do not cause autism,' Cassidy said February 4. He went on to say that he recognizes that parents could need reassurances that vaccines are safe but that confidence in the science should not be undermined. 'To this end, Mr. Kennedy and the administration committed that he and I will have an unprecedentedly close collaborative working relationship if he is confirmed. We will meet or speak multiple times a month,' Cassidy said. Yet in his X post on Monday, the senator was stark. 'The meeting should be delayed until the panel is fully staffed with more robust and balanced representation – as required by law – including those with more direct relevant expertise,' he wrote. Spokespeople for HHS and Cassidy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
RFK Jr. Lands on Next Target of His MAHA Crusade
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has tasked his newly appointed panel of vaccine advisers with probing an ingredient long-targeted by anti-vaxxers for disproven links to autism. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a panel under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will discuss the vaccine preservative thimerosal in its June 26 meeting, according to a draft agenda. The advisory committee previously had 17 members who were all sacked by Kennedy earlier this month and replaced with eight new ones, including anti-vaccine voices like Dr. Robert Malone, who pushed COVID-19 conspiracies in a 2021 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. Thimerosal, a preservative that is used to prevent microbial growth in vaccines, has long been targeted by anti-vaccine activists because it contains mercury. Kennedy himself authored a book in 2014 that advocated for the removal of thimerosal from vaccines, erroneously linking it to autism. Kennedy claimed that thimerosal is 'immensely toxic to brain tissue,' but multiple peer-reviewed studies, as well as health agencies like the CDC and Food and Drug Administration, have long maintained there is no link between the ingredient and autism. 'Many well-conducted studies have concluded that thimerosal in vaccines does not contribute to the development of autism,' the CDC says on its website. 'Even after thimerosal was removed from almost all childhood vaccines, autism rates continued to increase, which is the opposite of what would be expected if thimerosal caused autism.' The FDA similarly stated that 'scientific studies of the risk of other serious neurodevelopmental disorders have failed to support a causal link with thimerosal.' As a precautionary measure, however, the FDA in 1999 recommended the removal of thimerosal from vaccines routinely given to infants. The use of the ingredient has also dropped sharply over the years as many vaccines were reformulated to single-dose packaging. Jeremy Faust, editor-in-chief of MedPage Today, warned in an op-ed that the anti-vaccine movement will take the inclusion of thimerosal in the vaccine panel's agenda as 'a major win.' 'To be clear, removing the compound will do nothing to improve vaccine safety, but it certainly will undermine confidence in other existing vaccines,' he wrote. 'While there are many alternatives for influenza vaccines that do not contain thimerosal, elevating this debunked myth to national policy lends credence to misinformation, and sets the stage for other actions that may undermine vaccine confidence in the United States.' Last month, Kennedy removed COVID-19 vaccines from the list of shots recommended for children and pregnant women. Dr. Fiona Havers, a physician who oversaw respiratory virus data—including hospitalization rates for COVID-19—resigned as a top vaccine specialist for the CDC on Monday in the wake of Kennedy's controversial overhaul of the agency. 'If it isn't stopped, and some of this isn't reversed, like, immediately, a lot of Americans are going to die as a result of vaccine-preventable diseases,' she said in an interview with The New York Times.
Associated Press
12-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Kennedy's new CDC panel includes members who have criticized vaccines and spread misinformation
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new vaccine policy advisers to replace the panel that he abruptly dismissed earlier this week. They include a scientist who researched mRNA vaccine technology and became a conservative darling for his criticisms of COVID-19 vaccines, a leading critic of pandemic-era lockdowns, and a professor of operations management. Kennedy's decision to 'retire' the previous 17-member Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was widely decried by doctors' groups and public health organizations, who feared the advisers would be replaced by a group aligned with Kennedy's desire to reassess — and possibly end — longstanding vaccination recommendations. On Tuesday, before he announced his picks, Kennedy said: 'We're going to bring great people onto the ACIP panel – not anti-vaxxers – bringing people on who are credentialed scientists.' The new appointees include Vicky Pebsworth, a regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses. She has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group that is widely considered to be a leading source of vaccine misinformation. Another is Dr. Robert Malone, the former mRNA researcher who emerged as a close adviser to Kennedy during the measles outbreak. Malone, who runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic as he relayed conspiracy theories around the outbreak and the vaccines that followed. He has appeared on podcasts and other conservative news outlets where he's promoted unproven and alternative treatments for measles and COVID-19. He has claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the COVID-19 shots and has suggested that those vaccines cause a form of AIDS. He's downplayed deaths related to one of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. in years. Malone told The Associated Press he will do his best 'to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.' Other appointees include Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a biostatistician and epidemiologist who was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing irreparable harm. Dr. Cody Meissner, a former ACIP member, also was named. Abram Wagner of the University of Michigan's school of public health, who investigates vaccination programs, said he's not satisfied with the composition of the committee. 'The previous ACIP was made up of technical experts who have spent their lives studying vaccines,' he said. Most people on the current list 'don't have the technical capacity that we would expect out of people who would have to make really complicated decisions involving interpreting complicated scientific data.' He said having Pebsworth on the board is 'incredibly problematic' since she is involved in an organization that 'distributes a lot of misinformation.' Kennedy made the announcement in a social media post on Wednesday. The committee, created in 1964, makes recommendations to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC directors almost always approve those recommendations on how vaccines that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration should be used. The CDC's final recommendations are widely heeded by doctors and guide vaccination programs. The other appointees are: —Dr. James Hibbeln, who formerly headed a National Institutes of Health group focused on nutritional neurosciences and who studies how nutrition affects the brain, including the potential benefits of seafood consumption during pregnancy. —Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who studies business issues related to supply chain, logistics, pricing optimization and health and health care management. In a 2023 video pinned to an X profile under his name, Levi called for the end of the COVID-19 vaccination program, claiming the vaccines were ineffective and dangerous despite evidence they saved millions of lives. Levi told the AP he would try to help inform 'public health policies with data and science, with the goal of improving the health and wellbeing of people and regain the public trust.' —Dr. James Pagano, an emergency medicine physician from Los Angeles. —Dr. Michael Ross, a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist who previously served on a CDC breast and cervical cancer advisory committee. He is described as a 'serial CEO and physician leader' in a bio for Havencrest Capital Management, a private equity investment firm where he is an operating partner. Of the eight named by Kennedy, perhaps the most experienced in vaccine policy is Meissner, an expert in pediatric infectious diseases at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, who has previously served as a member of both ACIP and the Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory panel. During his five-year term as an FDA adviser, the committee was repeatedly asked to review and vote on the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines that were rapidly developed to fight the pandemic. In September 2021, he joined the majority of panelists who voted against a plan from the Biden administration to offer an extra vaccine dose to all American adults. The panel instead recommended that the extra shot should be limited to seniors and those at higher risk of the disease. Ultimately, the FDA disregarded the panel's recommendation and OK'd an extra vaccine dose for all adults. In addition to serving on government panels, Meissner has helped author policy statements and vaccination schedules for the American Academy of Pediatrics. ACIP members typically serve in staggered four-year terms, although several appointments were delayed during the Biden administration before positions were filled last year. The voting members are all supposed to have scientific or clinical expertise in immunization, except for one 'consumer representative' who can bring perspective on community and social facets of vaccine programs. Kennedy, a leading voice in the anti-vaccine movement before becoming the U.S. government's top health official, has accused the committee of being too closely aligned with vaccine manufacturers and of rubber-stamping vaccines. ACIP policies require members to state past collaborations with vaccine companies and to recuse themselves from votes in which they had a conflict of interest, but Kennedy has dismissed those safeguards as weak. Most of the people who best understand vaccines are those who have researched them, which usually requires some degree of collaboration with the companies that develop and sell them, said Jason Schwartz, a Yale University health policy researcher. 'If you are to exclude any reputable, respected vaccine expert who has ever engaged even in a limited way with the vaccine industry, you're likely to have a very small pool of folks to draw from,' Schwartz said. The U.S. Senate confirmed Kennedy in February after he promised he would not change the vaccination schedule. But less than a week later, he vowed to investigate childhood vaccines that prevent measles, polio and other dangerous diseases. Kennedy has ignored some of the recommendations ACIP voted for in April, including the endorsement of a new combination shot that protects against five strains of meningococcal bacteria and the expansion of vaccinations against RSV. In late May, Kennedy disregarded the committee and announced the government would change the recommendation for children and pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots. On Monday, Kennedy ousted all 17 members of the ACIP, saying he would appoint a new group before the next scheduled meeting in late June. The agenda for that meeting has not yet been posted, but a recent federal notice said votes are expected on vaccinations against flu, COVID-19, HPV, RSV and meningococcal bacteria. A HHS spokesman did not respond to a question about whether there would be only eight ACIP members, or whether more will be named later. ___ Associated Press reporters Matthew Perrone, Amanda Seitz, Devi Shastri and Laura Ungar contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Independent
12-06-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Meet the vaccines skeptics that are now part of RFK Jr.'s vaccine approval committee
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has announced new members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory panel. Earlier in the week, the secretary made waves when he purged all 17 former members, citing 'historical corruption at ACIP.' 'The most outrageous example of ACIP's malevolent malpractice has been its stubborn unwillingness to demand adequate safety trials before recommending new vaccines for our children,' he wrote in a post on X. In their place, Kennedy hand picked eight members, who he said were individuals 'committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense' and who wouldn't be 'ideological anti-vaxxers.' He noted that each of them have committed to 'demanding definitive safety and efficacy data before making any new vaccine recommendations' and that the committee would review safety and efficacy data for the current schedule. But, the moves have been concerning to experts, who noted that several members have been critical of vaccines. The fired panel members have said that their ousting signaled that scientific expertise was 'no longer of use' under Kennedy and that that decision would 'undermine public trust in the vaccine process,' in a time when vaccine hesitancy has led to the spread of measles and other disease. So, who are the new members Kennedy says will help to restore that trust? Here's what and who to know... Dr. Robert W. Malone Dr. Robert Malone is a former mRNA researcher who has been a close advisory to Kennedy. Kennedy said he has served in advisory roles for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense. He earned a medical degree from Northwestern University in 1991 and has taught at the University of California at Davis and the University of Maryland. He runs a wellness institute and a popular blog, and has been active on social media and in various outlets. He rose to prominence during the pandemic, relaying conspiracy theories about the vaccines and Covid. He has promoted alternative treatments for the virus and measles. He's claimed that millions of Americans were hypnotized into taking the shots and suggested that the vaccines cause a form of AIDS. Malone said in a post on X that he will do his best "to serve with unbiased objectivity and rigor.' 'I have attended many, many ACIP meetings in the past on behalf of clients. I played a key role in enabling advanced development of the Merck Ebola vaccine. I have deep expertise and experience in influenza vaccines and vaccine manufacturing technology, and have spoken on this issue at the WHO by invitation,' he said. Dr. Martin Kulldorff Dr. Martin Kulldorff is a biostatistician and epidemiologist. He's a founding member of the D.C.-based Academy for Science and Freedom at the nonsectarian Christian Hillsdale College. The academy aims to 'combat the recent and widespread abuses of individual and academic freedom made in the name of science' and 'educate the American people about the 'free exchange of scientific ideas and the proper relationship between freedom and science in the pursuit of truth.' Formerly a professor at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Kulldorf wrote in an op-ed that telling the 'truth' had gotten him fired. 'Bodily autonomy is not the only argument against Covid vaccine mandates. They are also unscientific and unethical,' wrote Kulldorff. On LinkedIn, he has said the National Institute of Health had failed Americans during the pandemic. Notably, he was a co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration, along with NIH head Jay Bhattacharya, which was an October 2020 letter maintaining that pandemic shutdowns were causing harm. He has posted on X in support of the positions of Kennedy, Bhattacharya, and new FDA Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Dr. Vinay Prasad. Kennedy said Kulldorff has served on the Food and Drug Administration's Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and the CDC's Vaccine Safety Subgroup of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. He noted Kulldorff also developed widely used tools such as SaTScan and TreeScan for detecting disease outbreaks and vaccine adverse events, and said he was an advocate for 'evidence-based approaches to pandemic response.' On Thursday, Endpoints News reported that Kulldorff and Malone were paid hundreds of dollars an hour to be a part of cases challenging the safety and efficacy of drugmaker Merck's HPV and MMR shots. Malone confirmed he had done 'expert witness consultation.' A request for comment from Kulldorff was not immediately returned. Dr. Retsef Levi Dr. Retsef Levi is a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He also serves as the faculty leader for Food Chain Supply Analytics. Prior to working at MIT, he spent nearly 12 years as an officer in the Intelligence Wing of the Israeli Defense Forces. An MIT bio page for Levi says he leads several industry-based collaborative research efforts with local hospitals and that he has been on contract to address risk related to 'economically motivated adulterations of food manufactured in global supply chains.' His pinned tweet claims that mRNA vaccines 'cause serious harm including death, especially among young people.' 'We have to stop giving them immediately!' he urged. 'From what I've seen so far, I think it's obvious that these mRNA vaccines should not be given to anybody young or healthy. It is also not at all clear to me that they should be given to anybody, based on the evidence,' he said in a new interview. 'I am honored with this opportunity and humbled by the responsibility,' he wrote. Vicky Pebsworth A registered nurse and a regional director for the National Association of Catholic Nurses, Vicky Pebsworth has been listed as a board member and volunteer director for the National Vaccine Information Center, a group previously described in The Washington Post as ' the oldest anti-vaccine advocacy group ' in the country. She earned a doctorate in public health and nursing from the University of Michigan. She has worked in the health care field in various capacities for more than 45 years. She is a former member of the FDA's Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee and the National Vaccine Advisory Committee's 2009 H1N1 Vaccine Safety Risk Assessment Working Group and Vaccine Safety Working Group (Epidemiology and Implementation Subcommittees), according to Kennedy. 'Her son — her only child — experienced serious, long-term health problems following receipt of seven live virus and killed bacterial vaccines administered during his 15-month well-baby visit which sparked her interest in vaccine safety research and policymaking and chronic illness and disability in children,' a bio page for her says. But, there are others on the panel whose vaccine stances aren't as clear. Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln Dr. Joseph Hibbeln has worked at the National Institutes of Health since the late 1990s. He formerly served as the Acting Chief of of the Section on Nutritional Neurosciences. He is also a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, with work focused on how nutrition affects the brain, including the potential benefits of seafood consumption during pregnancy. He attended the University of Chicago for his undergraduate degree and received his medical degrees from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1988. He served his residency at UCLA in 1992. He serves as a Captain in the United States Public Health Service. Recently, he wrote to ask another LinkedIn user about their position regarding 'closing nearly all vaccine research' at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Cody Meissner Dr. Cody Meissner is a former member of the committee and a professor of pediatrics at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine. He is the Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Tufts Children's Hospital and has served as a member of the Human Health and Services (HHS) Tick-borne Diseases Working Group. He has been the principal investigator for numerous vaccine clinical trials and the HHS Chair of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. He's held an advisory role at the Food and Drug Administration. Florida Republican Governor Ron Santis has quoted him as saying that closing schools during the Covid pandemic had 'aggravated the issue of inequity in our society.' Dr. James Pagano Dr. James Pagano is an emergency medicine physician with more than 40 years of clinical experience. He also did his residency at UCLA. 'Dr. Pagano served on multiple hospital committees, including utilization review, critical care, and medical executive boards. He is strong advocate for evidence-based medicine,' Kennedy said. Dr. Michael A. Ross Dr. Michael Ross is a Virginia-based obstetrician and gynecologist who previously served on a CDC breast and cervical cancer advisory committee. He is described as a 'serial CEO and physician leader' in a bio page for Havencrest Capital Management, a private equity investment firm where he is an operating partner. He recently started a position as the chief medical officer for the Maryland-based AI start-up Manta Pharma. He is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University. 'He has advised major professional organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and contributed to federal advocacy efforts around women's health and preventive care. His continued service on biotech and healthcare boards reflects his commitment to advancing innovation in immunology, reproductive medicine, and public health,' Kennedy said.
