HHS Cancels Preventive Services Task Force Meeting

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suddenly postponed a meeting of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force originally scheduled for Thursday, Nathaniel Weixel reported for The Hill on Wednesday, July 9.  This, he wrote, was according to an email sent to members of the public who had planned to attend.  

“The Immediate Office of the Secretary is postponing the July USPSTF meeting. Moving forward, HHS looks forward to engaging with the Task Force to promote the health and well-being of the American people,” the email, obtained by The Hill, stated. 

“The cancellation comes on the heels of a Supreme Court decision last month that asserted Kennedy has power to hire and fire members of the task force at will, and to review and potentially delay or veto the recommendations they issue — something that no prior administration has ever done,” Weixel wrote.

Furthermore, CNN’s Sarah Owermohle, Meg Tirrell, and Tami Luhby wrote that “Kennedy last month dismissed a 17-member US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine advisory committee and two days later named eight new picks to guide the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.”

CNN’s reporters obtained a statement from a person familiar with the meeting who expressed extraordinary concern. “While consumer advocates cheered the Supreme Court ruling, they cautioned that it gives Kennedy more power over preventive care recommendations.”