Public Health Associations Call on RFK Jr. to Resign as HHS Secretary

In the wake of considerable chaos and confusion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the leaders of a number of national healthcare associations concerned with public health on Friday, September 19, called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

“As national medical, scientific, public health and patient organizations, we call for the resignation of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ensure the health of the American people,” the associations stated in a statement posted to the website of the Washington, D.C.-based Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). “Forcing high-level CDC expert leaders to turn their back on decades of sound science to meet Kennedy’s agenda puts us all at risk. This final exclamation point on a term defined by repeated efforts to undermine science and public health definitively leaves Americans less safe in a multitude of ways:  

Food safety: Reduced capacity to protect the public from foodborne illness, including a drastic reduction in the number of infections monitored and a resulting increased risk of foodborne illness. 

Diagnostic testing and expert consultation: Limited testing capacity and consultation for less common infections where expertise, testing or medications may only be available at CDC. 

Infection tracking and surveillance: Lack of information about what infections are circulating in local communities, which health care providers rely upon to evaluate and protect patients.  

Public and provider education: Loss of expertise and trust in what was once the premier source of information to support clinicians and empower patients to make the best decisions to protect themselves and their families. 

Chronic disease prevention and management: Weakened initiatives that promote healthy behaviors, preventive care and community-based projects to prevent and manage chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. 

Emergency response: Diminished leadership and capacity to detect and mount effective responses to emerging infectious diseases and bioterror attacks.  

Longstanding epidemics: Reversal of progress made in ending the HIV epidemic, eliminating viral hepatitis and addressing sexually transmitted infections. 

Health and safety throughout the lifespan: Loss of expertise and information to support healthy pregnancy, child development and injury prevention. 

Vaccination: Decimated capacity to make evidence-based vaccine recommendations and objectively oversee vaccine safety. 

State and local health departments: Loss of expert guidance, technical support and resources to protect communities from routine health threats.  

We are gravely concerned that American people will needlessly suffer and die as a result of policies that turn away from sound interventions. After careful consideration, we insist on Kennedy’s resignation to restore the integrity, credibility and science-driven mission of HHS and all its agencies. Our country needs leadership that will promote open, honest dialogue, not disregard decades of lifesaving science, spread misinformation, reverse medical progress and decimate programs that keep us safe. We are speaking out because protecting public health is our responsibility as physicians, scientists and patient advocates. It is also the responsibility of our elected officials, and we call for their support at this critical moment to protect the health of the nation. It is time to reverse course and begin rebuilding the public health infrastructure overseen by CDC. Kennedy has proven himself unwilling and ill-prepared to lead that effort.

The associations signing the statement were the following:

Academic Pediatric Association
AIDS Action Baltimore 
AIDS Foundation Chicago
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 
American Academy of HIV Medicine
American Association of Immunologists
American Families for Vaccines
American Public Health Association 
American Sexual Health Association
American Society for Microbiology
American Society for Virology
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
American Thoracic Society
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
Atlanta ID Group, PC
AVAC (formerly the AIDS Vaccine Access Coalition)
Camenzind Solutions LLC
Coai, Inc.
Defend Public Health
Fast-Track Cities Institute 
HIV Medicine Association 
Housing Works
ID Care
Infectious Disease Association of California
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Infectious Diseases Society of New Jersey
Infectious Diseases Society of New York
Infectious Diseases Society of Ohio
International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Massachusetts Infectious Diseases Society
ME Sorensen Consulting
Michigan Infectious Diseases Society
National Alliance for HIV Education and Workforce Development
National Working Positive Coalition
NTM Info & Research
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society
Peggy Lillis Foundation 
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Save HIV Funding Campaign 
SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Society for Public Health Education 
Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP)
Stop TB USA
The Reunion Project 
The Well Project
Treatment Action Group
Waves Ahead Corp

Further, the Infectious Diseases Society of America posted its own statement in addition to signing the group statement.

"Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, the Department of Health and Human Services cannot fulfill its mission to safeguard and protect Americans’ health,” Tina Tan, M.D., IDSA’s president, said in a statement published to the media on Friday afternoon. “The Senate testimony of former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention leaders and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meeting this week are the latest stark examples of Secretary Kennedy’s reckless and complete disregard for science and human lives.”

What’s more, Dr. Tan said, "America’s infectious diseases doctors warn that the consequences of allowing him to remain in office will be paid significantly and negatively by Americans of all ages who wish to live healthy lives. His leadership has already put up barriers to many Americans’ choice to receive the COVID vaccine. Now he is attacking routine childhood vaccines that have been given broadly and safely for decades, creating chaos and confusion, taking away parents’ choices and putting children’s lives at significant risk for severe vaccine-preventable diseases. Secretary Kennedy presents a clear and present danger to the American people and their families. This week, even more of our colleagues in the fields of medicine, public health and patient advocacy join us in calling for his resignation,” she concluded.

ACIP vaccine policy meeting becomes chaotic

Dr. Tan’s statement came after two days of chaotic discussions at the CDC, among members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). The meeting was highly anticipated, given that Secretary Kennedy had removed a large number of existing members of the ACIP during the summer and replaced them with new members, several of whom have been denounced as incompetent to serve on the committee.

As the New York Times’s Apoorva Mandavilli reported on Friday afternoon, “The chaos from the first day of a meeting of the federal vaccine committee appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. bled into the second day, as the panel reversed one decision and indefinitely postponed a vote on a hepatitis B vaccine they had already deferred once. On Friday morning, the committee voted not to allow a federal vaccine program to cover the cost of a combination vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, or chickenpox. This reversed a vote on Thursday to allow coverage, apparently because some members had misunderstood the way it was worded,” she wrote.

Further, Mandavilli wrote, “And the panelists said they felt unready to decide whether to limit the use of a vaccine for hepatitis B that is typically given to all newborns. Some said they still had questions about the vaccine’s safety, while others seemed relieved that the panel did not make what they saw as a rash decision that might harm children.” And she quoted Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, a neuroscientist formerly at the National Institues of Health, as saying that “We are more prudent when we are cautious,” as he voted to table the vote.

“Thursday’s session ended with the panel members at odds,” Mandavillie reported. “A hot microphone caught one panelist calling another committee member ‘an idiot,’ although it was unclear who was speaking. Friday’s session, too, at times devolved into raised voices and sharp-toned remarks. Dr. Jason Goldman, a liaison to the committee from the American College of Physicians, accused the committee’s chair, Martin Kulldorff, of muting him. ‘You want debate and discussion, but you’re muting people and silencing them,’ Dr. Goldman said. ‘If you could respectfully tell the public how you are going to be analyzing all of these vaccine decisions, we can have confidence in this committee.’ Dr. Kulldorff retorted: ‘You made that comment before, and I responded to that comment in a very nice and polite manner.’ The decisions of the committee, which is meeting at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, are of enormous importance. Most private insurers are required to cover the shots it recommends — although they may choose to cover those not recommended — and many state policies on vaccines are tied to the committee’s guidelines,” she noted.

Meanwhile, The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel wrote on Saturday evening that “A key federal advisory panel handpicked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr spent two chaotic days debating potentially significant changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccination policy but left the most controversial recommendation for another time. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted on Thursday not to recommend the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV) vaccine for any patient under 4 years old, reversing current guidance.  Following a lengthy and at times confusing and contentious discussion, the panel declined to vote on a change to the hepatitis B vaccine for newborns,” he reported, noting that “The panel unanimously adopted a more restrictive recommendation for COVID-19 shots, though the practical implications aren’t yet clear. The panel’s recommendations carry enormous importance. Most private insurers are required to cover the shots ACIP recommends, and many state policies on vaccines are tied to the committee’s guidelines,” he added.