A federal court ruled on March 17 that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s efforts to change U.S. vaccine policy were likely unlawful, halting his recent overhaul of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
The ruling is significant because it challenges major changes to national immunization guidelines and highlights concerns about the process used to appoint new advisory committee members.
Judge Brian Murphy of the District Court for Massachusetts said Kennedy's June move to remove all ACIP members was a "procedural failure" that "highlights the very reasons why procedures exist." Murphy wrote in his decision that Kennedy "summarily replaced" ACIP members without following the rigorous screening process that had been standard for decades. The judge added this raised "a substantial likelihood that the newly appointed ACIP fails to comport with governing law."
Observers have noted that many new ACIP members share Kennedy's skepticism toward vaccines. Former ACIP panelist Paul Offit told BioSpace in a June 2025 interview that current vice chair Robert Malone has testified before Congress making claims about mRNA vaccines causing serious diseases, which Offit disputed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in July last year over these changes, alleging legal violations and risks to public health. HHS tried to dismiss the lawsuit, but Judge Murphy allowed it to proceed earlier this year.
In response to Monday’s ruling, Malone criticized what he called an “activist judicial intervention” and said it “deserves serious scrutiny from anyone who believes in democratic accountability.” He also wrote, “A district court order is a delay, not a defeat,” expressing confidence in an appeal.
Murphy’s ruling also addressed Kennedy’s May 2025 decision to remove COVID-19 vaccines from routine immunization guidelines for healthy children and pregnant women without consulting ACIP experts. Since then, further changes have included removing chickenpox vaccination recommendations for young children and delaying hepatitis B vaccination until two months of age unless mothers test positive for the virus. In January, recommended routine pediatric immunizations were reduced from 17 to 11 at President Donald Trump’s request.
Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for HHS, told STAT News that the department expects "this judge’s decision [to be] overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing." An appellate court recently suspended another of Murphy's rulings regarding deportation policies.
The next ACIP meeting has been postponed according to Politico reporting. As of March 17, the CDC website still listed meeting dates as March 18–19.
