July 7, 2025- The AAP and other leading medical groups are suing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for making unilateral, unscientific changes to federal 
vaccine policy they say are an “assault on science, public health and evidence-based medicine.”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr
AAP President Susan J. Kressly, M.D., FAAP, said the administration’s actions are jeopardizing the success of the country’s immunization system, a “cornerstone of U.S. public health.”
“The American Academy of Pediatrics isn’t standing by. We’re stepping up,” she said. “We’re taking legal action because we believe children deserve better.”
In the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, the AAP, American College of Physicians, American Public Health Association and the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), Massachusetts Public Health Alliance, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and a pregnant woman said Kennedy violated federal law when he unilaterally changed COVID-19 vaccine recommendations, without scientific evidence, for children and people who are pregnant. The lawsuit also describes the Secretary’s actions as outside established, scientifically credible practice when he abruptly fired 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and replaced them with multiple people who have espoused anti-vaccine viewpoints.
“This wasn’t just sidelining science,” Dr. Kressly said. “It’s an attack on the very foundation of how we protect families and children’s health. And the consequences could be dangerous.”
In taking these steps, Kennedy ignored scientific evidence, failed to adhere to key steps in the federal rulemaking process and failed to ensure balanced viewpoints on ACIP, according to the lawsuit. In addition, the secretary blocked CDC communications, delayed or canceled meetings of CDC and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine advisers and announced studies to investigate non-existent links between vaccines and autism, the lawsuit says.
The medical groups are asking a judge to halt Kennedy’s changes to COVID-19 vaccine policy.
“We will not stand by while a single federal official unilaterally and effectively strips Americans of their choice to vaccinate with actions that thoroughly disregard overwhelming scientific evidence and decades of established federal processes,” said IDSA President Tina Tan, M.D., FIDSA., FPIDS, FAAP.
Kennedy’s newly appointed vaccine advisers have stated that they plan to review the child and adolescent immunization schedules, which Dr. Kressly said is alarming.
“These decisions are founded in fear and not evidence, and will make our children and communities more vulnerable to infectious diseases like measles, whooping cough, and influenza,” she said.
“As we pursue action to restore science to U.S. vaccination policy, AAP will continue to provide the science-based, trusted recommendations that every American deserves.”
This is not the first time the AAP has sued the federal government and it has done so regardless of political party. In 1983, the AAP and other medical groups sued HHS over a rule related to life-sustaining treatment for infants with critical illness or disabilities. The AAP sued the FDA in 2016 and 2018. The first lawsuit was for delaying implementation of graphic warnings for cigarettes and the second was for delaying a review of e-cigarettes and cigars.
Source: American Academy of Pediatrics
