Latest news with #SenateHealthCommittee
The Hill
29-07-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Senate Democrats launch investigation into RFK Jr. firing of CDC vaccine panel
Democrats on the Senate Health Committee launched an investigation on Tuesday into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s firing of all members of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel. Led by ranking member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who caucuses with Democrats, the lawmakers asked for detailed information about why Kennedy dismissed members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), who else was involved in the process, and how the new members were identified and vetted. 'By removing all 17 of ACIP's members and replacing them with eight individuals handpicked to advance your anti-vaccine agenda, you have put decades of non-partisan, science-backed work— and, as a result, Americans' lives—at risk,' the lawmakers wrote. In June, Kennedy fired all members of the panel in an unprecedented escalation of his quest to reshape federal health agencies and vaccine policy. He then handpicked eight replacements, many of whom are vaccine critics. He accused the panelists of being beholden to corporate interests and said the panel was rife with conflicts, but did not provide any evidence. The panelists are not political appointees. ACIP members meet and discuss data to determine which vaccines are recommended and for whom. If the CDC director signs off on the panel's recommendations, ACIP-recommended vaccines must be covered by health insurance. Under many state laws, ACIP-recommended vaccines are mandated for schoolchildren. The lawmakers on Tuesday called on Kennedy to provide information on the firings by Aug. 12, including details of the alleged conflict of interest for each fired member and how their conflicts differ from ones they previously disclosed. Kennedy has promised transparency and department officials pledged to release ethics forms on the new panelists prior to their meeting last month, but that never happened. A searchable database of ACIP members lists conflicts of interest for just two of Kennedy's picks, though it's much more detailed for the dismissed members. The senators also asked if Kennedy plans to appoint any additional members to the panel. Only seven members participated in last month's meeting. Kennedy claimed in a Fox News interview in June that he would allow Health Committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) to place one of his own candidates on the panel. In addition to Sanders, the letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine (Va.), Maggie Hassan (N.H.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Ed Markey (Mass.), Andy Kim (N.J.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.) and Angela Alsobrooks (Md.). The lawmakers said they launched a partisan investigation because a Sanders request for a bipartisan inquiry in June went unheeded. Cassidy on Tuesday said he doesn't see the point in an investigation, because Democrats will be able to question Kennedy directly the next time he testifies. 'The Secretary will be back before us. He's been before us once. He's going to be back before us again,' Cassidy told reporters. 'I'm not sure what an investigation is going to accomplish, more than the guy who apparently made the decision, sitting there before us, taking questions from everybody on the panel,' he continued.
The Hill
17-06-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Sanders asks Cassidy to launch investigation into RFK Jr.'s purge of vaccine panel
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling for the Senate Health Committee to launch a bipartisan investigation into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's recent firing of every member of a key vaccine advisory committee. In a letter sent to committee chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Sanders said purging members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization practices (ACIP) was 'a dangerous and unprecedented decision that will have a profoundly negative impact on the lives of the American people.' 'I am requesting that we immediately initiate a bi-partisan investigation into these firings and conduct serious oversight into the actions Secretary Kennedy has taken to mislead the American people about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines and erode public health,' Sanders said in the letter. A spokesperson for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter. Kennedy, who has a long history as an anti-vaccine activist, fired the entire 17-member panel last week, arguing a 'clean sweep' was needed to purge conflicts of interest and help restore trust in vaccinations and public health. He replaced them with eight of his own handpicked members, including several vocal vaccine critics. The move was an unprecedented escalation in Kennedy's quest to reshape the nation's vaccine policy. Sanders noted it 'directly contradicts' one of the key promises Cassidy said he extracted from the HHS chief to secure his confirmation vote. Before being elected to Congress, Cassidy was a physician who gained prominence by vaccinating low-income children. He publicly wavered over Kennedy's confirmation, sharply criticizing his views on vaccines before eventually voting for him. Following the ACIP firings, the Louisiana Republican wouldn't say if HHS violated their agreement and instead pointed to a social media post. 'Now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,' the senator wrote. In his letter, Sanders said Cassidy's 'fear was wellfounded.'
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A sweeping child welfare and foster care bill wins NC Senate committee approval
Rep. Allen Chesser (R-Nash) discusses a child welfare bill (Photo: Lynn Bonner) An expansive bill overhauling the child welfare system that aims to increase stability for children in foster care won approval from a Senate committee on Thursday. House Bill 612 provides for increased oversight of local child welfare office decisions by the state Department of Health and Human Services. It sets out timeframes for court hearings on plans to move children in foster care to permanent homes. Courts would be allowed to authorize post-adoption contact agreements between biological and adoptive parents. Legislators have discussed comprehensive changes to child welfare and foster care laws for years. 'It's a long time coming,' Rep. Allen Chesser (R-Nash), one of the bill sponsors, told the Senate Health Committee during a Wednesday hearing. 'I think it's one of the most bipartisan issues we have.' When they discussed the bill Wednesday, the Senate committee members heard concerns from a lawyer and adoptive parents that the bill would discourage infant adoptions. The bill gives a biological father up to three months after a child's birth, when he is not married to the child's mother, to acknowledge paternity or attempt to form a relationship with the child before his parental rights are terminated. If a possible father finds out that a woman has fraudulently concealed her pregnancy or a child's birth, he would have up to 30 days after finding out to acknowledge paternity before his parental rights are terminated. 'From an adoptive parent perspective, this bill is frankly terrifying,' said Natalie Carscadden, an adoptive parent. 'Imagine the anxiety that comes when a person who's never met or shown any interest in a child suddenly appears in requests for custody up to a three-month time span after that child is born. This would upset the status quo and put significantly more legal risk on potential adoptive families.' In the committee discussion Thursday, Chesser referenced a court decision on a father's right to act within a 'timely manner.' 'What we are doing is defining what a timely manner means,' he said. The Senate combined the measure with three other bills that have passed the House: House Bill 795, which extends financial assistance for guardians who are related to children who won't be adopted or returned to their parents. Payments through the Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program could start when children are 10. Under current law, children have to be 14 or older. House Bill 162 would have cities and counties require criminal background checks for any person they plan to hire who would work with children. House Bill 182, which would allow judges to issue permanent 'no contact' orders against people convicted of violent crimes.
Gulf Insider
17-05-2025
- Health
- Gulf Insider
RFK Jr. Defends His Comments On Vaccines: "I'm Going To Tell The Truth"
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his recent statements about vaccines during a congressional hearing on May 14. 'I'm going to tell the truth about everything we know and we don't know about vaccines,' Kennedy told Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) while testifying before the Senate Health Committee. 'I am not going to just tell people that everything is safe and effective if I know there are issues. I need to respect people's intelligence.' Several lawmakers expressed concern about Kennedy's recent comments, which include saying that the protection conferred by the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine wanes over time. 'The result is to undermine faith in the vaccine,' Murphy said. 'It's kind of like saying, 'Listen, I think you should swim in that lake, but you know, the lake is probably toxic, and there's probably a ton of snakes and alligators in that lake, but I think you should swim in it.' Nobody is going to swim that lake if that's what you say. I want you to acknowledge that when you say you support the measles vaccine, and then you go out and repeatedly undermine the vaccine, with information that is contested by public health experts, that is not supporting the vaccine.' Kennedy responded, 'If I advise you to swim in a lake that I knew there to be alligators in, wouldn't you want me to tell you there were alligators in it? 'The reason people have lost faith in this program is that they've been lied to by public officials for year after year after year.' Several outbreaks of measles have appeared in the United States in 2025, including an outbreak in Texas that has spread to hundreds of people. Texas officials say most patients are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the administration of two doses of the MMR vaccine is 97 percent effective against measles. Studies, including a paper from French researchers, have found that the protection wanes slowly over time. 'We're always going to have measles, as the vaccine wanes very quickly,' Kennedy said recently at a town hall. He has also said that the MMR vaccine has side effects and that many vaccines on the childhood vaccination schedule have not been tested in randomized, controlled trials against placebos. '[That] means we don't understand the risk profile for those products and that's something that I intend to remedy,' Kennedy told lawmakers on May 14, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services' announcement that all new vaccines must be tested against placebos before being licensed. Kennedy testified before the Senate panel and the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. It was the first time he appeared before Congress since being confirmed in February. Click here to read more…
Epoch Times
14-05-2025
- Health
- Epoch Times
RFK Jr. Defends His Comments on Vaccines: ‘I'm Going to Tell the Truth'
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defended his recent statements about vaccines during a congressional hearing on May 14. 'I'm going to tell the truth about everything we know and we don't know about vaccines,' Kennedy told Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) while testifying before the Senate Health Committee. 'I am not going to just tell people that everything is safe and effective if I know there are issues. I need to respect people's intelligence.' Several lawmakers expressed concern about Kennedy's recent comments, which include saying that the protection conferred by the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine wanes over time. 'The result is to undermine faith in the vaccine,' Murphy said. 'It's kind of like saying, 'listen, I think you should swim in that lake, but you know, the lake is probably toxic, and there's probably a ton of snakes and alligators in that lake, but I think you should swim in it.' Nobody is going to swim that lake if that's what you say. I want you to acknowledge that when you say you support the measles vaccine, and then you go out and repeatedly undermine the vaccine, with information that is contested by public health experts, that is not supporting the vaccine.' Kennedy responded, 'If I advise you to swim in a lake that I knew there to be alligators in, wouldn't you want me to tell you there were alligators in it?' Related Stories 5/1/2025 5/13/2025 He added: 'The reason people have lost faith in this program is that they've been lied to by public officials for year after year after year.' Several outbreaks of measles have appeared in the United States this year, including an outbreak in Texas that has spread to hundreds of people. Texas officials say most patients are unvaccinated or have unknown vaccination status. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Studies, including 'We're always going to have measles, as the vaccine wanes very quickly,' Kennedy said recently at a town hall. He has also noted that the MMR vaccine has side effects and that many vaccines on the childhood vaccination schedule That 'means we don't understand the risk profile for those products and that's something that I intend to remedy,' Kennedy told lawmakers on Wednesday, referring to the Department of Health and Human Services' Kennedy testified to the Senate panel and the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. It was the first time he appeared before Congress since being confirmed in February. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) asked Kennedy, who has said his children received the typical vaccines in their childhood, if he had a child today, would he get that child vaccinated with the MMR shot? 'Probably,' Kennedy said. 'I would say my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant. 'I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me. I think if I answer that question directly, that it will seem that I'm giving advice to other people, and I don't want to be doing that,' Kennedy said, adding that health officials were going to try to outline the pros and cons, or the risks and benefits, of each vaccine. Pocan tried to get Kennedy to answer the same question for the chickenpox and polio vaccines. The health secretary demurred. Republicans largely steered clear of vaccines during the hearings. A number of them praised developments under Kennedy, including the banning of some artificial dyes and the focus on cutting costs at the health agency. 'You've done more to shine the light on things that average Americans can do to make themselves healthier than almost any secretary that I can recall,' Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) said, 'so thank you for that service.'
