RFK Jr. has destroyed over a quarter of health dept’s expert panels

In his role as health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a long-time anti-vaccine activist with no background in science, medicine, or public health—has made headlines for his thorough perversion of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory panel. In June, Kennedy fired all 17 independent experts who made up the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. The panel sets federal vaccination guidance that dictates insurance coverage and influences state school requirements. Kennedy then repopulated ACIP with mostly unqualified allies who share his anti-vaccine views. The corrupted board went on to hold several chaotic meetings in which they voted, without scientific backing, to change vaccine policies to align with Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agenda. The blatant undermining of ACIP led a federal judge this week to temporarily block Kennedy’s installed ACIP members and the anti-vaccine changes they made to CDC guidance. But while ACIP’s corruption has drawn the spotlight, it’s far from the only advisory committee Kennedy has destroyed or corrupted. According to a new report by government watchdog Public Citizen, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has terminated 75 federal advisory committees under Kennedy. That amounts to about 27 percent of the 273 panels of independent experts HHS relies on to shape scientific agendas, regulations, and policies. Of the 75 that were cut, the bulk were at the National Institutes of Health; Kennedy cut 49 advisory committees, most of which were responsible for evaluating scientific grant applications. A recent analysis from Johns Hopkins researchers found that, as of March 3, the NIH has awarded 74 percent fewer competitive or new awards than the average for the same period in the 2021–2024 fiscal years, according to a report by Stat News.