Multiple medical groups say they have been barred from work on CDC's panel of vaccine advisers
Multiple medical groups say they have been barred from working on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's panel of vaccine advisers.
It comes weeks after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the original panel of independent experts and replaced them with his own handpicked members -- many of whom have expressed skeptical views on vaccines.
Liaisons representing major medical groups were historically invited to meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as non-voting members to provide their independent expertise in respective fields. In a joint statement, the groups said they have now been excluded "from the process of reviewing scientific evidence end informing vaccine recommendations."
A total of eight groups signed on to the statement, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American Medical Association and the National Medical Association among others.
In a statement provided to ABC News, an HHS spokesperson said: "Under the old ACIP, outside pressure to align with vaccine orthodoxy limited asking the hard questions. The old ACIP members were plagued by conflicts of interest, influence, and bias. We are fulfilling our promise to the American people to never again allow those conflicts to taint vaccine recommendations."
The statement went on to say: "Experts will continue to be included based on relevant experience and expertise, not because of what organization they are with."
In their statement, the medical organizations said they learned the groups will be excluded from the panel's work in an email late Thursday and noted they were "deeply disappointed and alarmed" by the move.
"To remove our deep medical expertise from this vital and once transparent process is irresponsible, dangerous to our nation's health, and will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccines," the statement read.
