Todd Shryock

(This article first appeared on our sister brand, 

A clinical trial testing a first-in-class drug designed to combat infections from medical devices has enrolled its first patient at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Peptilogics announced.

The RETAIN Phase 2/3 registration trial, led by Toan Le, is evaluating PLG0206 in patients with prosthetic joint infection following knee replacement surgery. The drug candidate represents a new approach to treating medical device-related infections by targeting biofilm, a protective bacterial matrix that shields pathogens from antibiotics and the immune system.

Approximately 5 million joint replacements are performed annually across the US, UK, and Europe. In 2% of cases, biofilm forms on implant surfaces, resulting in prosthetic joint infection. The condition can develop quickly after surgery or years later.

Current standard treatment requires two-stage revision surgery to remove the infected prosthesis, which carries a 15 to 25% failure rate and subjects patients to multiple procedures. The condition is associated with a 25% five-year mortality rate. The estimated annual economic burden in the US alone is $20 billion.

"I'm excited about the promise of PLG0206 as a first-in-class treatment for patients with PJI, and as a potential solution for all medical device-related infections in the future," said Javad Parvizi, professor of orthopedic surgery at Acibadem University in Istanbul and past president of the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial is designed to assess whether the drug is superior to standard care. The primary endpoint is treatment failure at 12 months, with a key secondary endpoint of infection-related surgical intervention at the same time point. The trial plans to enroll up to 240 patients across up to 50 clinical sites.

An earlier Phase 1B study demonstrated preliminary efficacy, with only one of 13 PLG0206-treated patients experiencing recurrent infection by 12 months, representing a 7% failure rate. Current standard care has shown 12-month failure rates of 35 to 55%.

PLG0206 has received a Qualified Infectious Disease Product designation from the FDA, which provides five additional years of market exclusivity upon approval, as well as Orphan Drug and Fast Track designations for the treatment of prosthetic joint infections.

More than 55 million people in the U.S. live with medical devices and implants, including joint replacements, cardiovascular devices, spinal hardware, hernia mesh, and vascular grafts. Bacterial biofilms are the primary drivers of serious device-related infections across these categories.

Recent advances in medical device infection prevention and treatment

 has made significant progress in understanding and addressing device-related infections over the past decade, moving beyond traditional reliance on systemic antibiotics alone.

 have developed antimicrobial coatings that can be applied directly to implant surfaces, using materials such as silver ions, antibiotics, and antimicrobial peptides. These coatings aim to prevent bacterial adhesion during the critical early hours after implantation, when devices are most vulnerable to colonization.

Surface modification technologies have also advanced, with manufacturers creating implants featuring nano-structured surfaces that mechanically disrupt bacterial attachment. These textured surfaces can reduce biofilm formation without relying on chemical agents, potentially lowering the risk of antimicrobial resistance.

Diagnostic tools have improved substantially, enabling earlier detection of device-related infections. Advanced imaging techniques, including specialized PET scans and molecular imaging, can identify low-grade infections that traditional methods might miss. Biomarker panels and molecular diagnostics now enable clinicians to detect bacterial DNA and distinguish infection from normal inflammatory responses to implants.

Surgical techniques have also evolved, with enhanced debridement protocols and single-stage revision approaches showing promise in select patient populations. These methods aim to reduce the burden of multiple surgeries while maintaining infection control.

Research into biofilm biology has revealed new potential therapeutic targets. Scientists now better understand the complex signaling systems bacteria use to coordinate biofilm formation and the unique metabolic states of bacteria within biofilms. This knowledge has informed the development of agents designed to disrupt bacterial communication, disperse established biofilms, or target the specialized persister cells that survive conventional antibiotic treatment.

Clinical practice has also shifted toward more aggressive prevention strategies, including standardized preoperative screening protocols, refined surgical sterility measures, and optimized perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis tailored to patient risk factors and local resistance patterns.

Despite these advances, medical device-related infections remain a significant clinical challenge, with outcomes that have not substantially improved in recent years for established infections. The focus has increasingly turned to developing therapies that specifically address the biofilm environment, representing a fundamental shift from attempting to optimize existing antibiotics toward creating entirely new classes of anti-biofilm agents.

Articles

Peptilogics' PLG0206 represents a breakthrough innovation in infectious disease. First drug designed specifically to penetrate and kill biofilm-protected bacteria. RETAIN Phase 2/3 trial now enrolling patients with prosthetic joint infection. The previous phase showed 93% infection-free rate. It could revolutionize the treatment of medical device-related infections.

First-Ever Antibiofilm Drug Enters Phase 2/3 Trial for Prosthetic Joint Infections

(Adobe Stock 606491608 by N Lawrenson/peopleimages.com)

The new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have made recommendations on influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) 

, with its new members appointed by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In public comment sessions on both days, physicians, activists, and public health advocates primarily spoke in favor of the widespread health benefits of vaccines, although some warned of adverse effects from treatments intended to prevent disease, rather than exacerbate patient health.

RSV, both of which can pose severe health risks in individuals. There was also discussion about the safety of the vaccine preservative 

, a mercury-containing organic compound used in drugs since the 1930s.

The members are Chair Martin Kulldorff, MD, PhD; Joseph R. Hibbeln, MD; Retsef Levi, PhD; Robert W. Malone, MD; Cody Meissner, MD; James Pagano, MD; and Vicky Pebsworth, OP, PhD, RN.

Influenza Vaccination Vote: Recommendations for Influenza Vaccination for the 2025-26 Season: The ACIP reaffirms the recommendation for routine annual influenza vaccination of all persons aged 6 months or older who do not have contraindications. Approved 6-0, 1 abstention.

Thimerosal Containing Influenza Vaccines Vote No. 1: ACIP recommends that children 18 years and younger receive seasonal influenza vaccines only in single-dose formulations that are free of thimerosal as a preservative. Approved 5-1, 1 abstention.

Thimerosal Containing Influenza Vaccines Vote No. 2: ACIP recommends pregnant women receive seasonal influenza vaccines only in single-dose formulations that are free of thimerosal as a preservative. Approved 5-1, 1 abstention.

Thimerosal Containing Influenza Vaccines Vote No. 3: ACIP recommends all adults receive seasonal influenza vaccines only in single-dose formulations that are free of thimerosal as a preservative. Approved 5-1, 1 abstention.

Afterward, the members explained their votes.

“I think we need to work hard to bring to the public the most accurate scientific assessments of the efficacy of these vaccines,” Levi said.

“I wish to note that there is a significant benefit to the use of multidose vaccines instead of single-dose vaccines, and apparently, there is good data that other preservatives can be used,” Hibbeln said. “So, I hope that the committee will put on the agenda the consideration of multiuse vials rather than single-use vials that have other better preservatives.”

“I wish to note regarding the recommendations for influenza vaccine for the season and the recommendation for routine annual influenza vaccination for all persons greater than or equal to 6 months lacking contraindications, I look forward to a robust evaluation in the subcommittee of the potential risks and benefits, relatively speaking of the alternative products that are currently available on the market. And I anticipate, there will be active consideration of the long-standing issue of immune imprinting and original antigenic sin, which may or may not be a concern in the case of routine annual influenza vaccination,” Malone said.

“I would like to make the point that my concern is that by insisting the multi-dose vials contain thimerosal, that might limit the availability of the influenza vaccine for some people,” Meissner said. “I would like to have that question answered, but it's probably a difficult one to answer. My point is, the risk from influenza is so much greater than the non-existent, as far as we know, risk from thimerosal, so I would hate for a person not to receive the influenza vaccine because the only available preparation contains thimerosal. I find that very hard to justify.”

“I wanted to say that I, on my personal views on this, is that we should not be doing anything that restricts access to vaccines of any sort, especially those that are already approved by the FDA and that are already in the schedule,” Pebsworth said. “My problem and the reason I abstained for all of these votes is because the way the voting question was written. In the world of survey research, you don't ask two things in the same question. So, there's buried in this, is a recommendation that all adults receive seasonal influenza, and then the second part of it, in formulations that are free of thimerosal as a preservative. Yes, I think we should not be using thimerosal as a preservative. But we didn't get into any sort of a discussion about the first part of the question. In the future, when we're asked to vote on something, if we could just vote on one thing at a time, that would be helpful.”

Vote: ACIP recommends that infants aged less than 8 months born during or entering their first RSV season who are not protected by maternal vaccination receive 1 dose of clesrevumab. Approved 5-2.

“I just want to clarify that my objection is based on the fact that I don't feel this is ready to be administered to all healthy babies. I think we should take them on precautionary approach to this, but I respect the discussion in my opinions of my colleagues.

Pebsworth did not state a reason for her vote.

Vote: Approve the updated Vaccines for Children (VFC) resolution for prevention of RSV. Approved 7-0

Malone asked about the language the committee would vote on, and there was some discussion to clarify it. The members also offered brief explanations about that vote.

“This is extremely important that VFC cover this product,” Meissner said. “It is very important to ensure equity in our country so that all children have access to these monoclonal antibodies. It would not be right because these are expensive products, that only well-insured children or in families that are well-insured, have access to this product. I think we've all discussed the fact that this is an effective product, and I would strongly encourage everyone to make it available to all children.”

Malone did not disagree, but explained he wanted to clarify his understanding of the language and procedure. During the vote, Levi agreed on the importance of making the vaccine accessible to any children, and he suggested a further CDC study of post-marketing data on any deaths and adverse events.

Pebsworth recited her statement regarding a potential conflict of interest, owning shares in a health care sector fund that has holdings relevant to ACIP, including those of vaccine manufacturers. The amount is less than the Office of Government Ethics’ regulatory de minimis amount.

After the vote, Kulldorff thanked the ACIP members and their advising staff for immersing themselves in a study about a vaccine that the Food and Drug Administration had approved just 16 days prior.

In its first major session under newly appointed leadership, the revamped Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to support flu and RSV vaccinations for the 2025–2026 season, but internal debate over vaccine preservatives, access equity, and risk assessment highlighted the ideological and scientific tensions now shaping federal vaccine policy.

New ACIP Panel Backs Seasonal Flu, RSV Vaccinations, but Divisions Emerge Over Thimerosal and Infant Dosing

US Department of Health and Human Services 

Former members should be reinstated to a national panel that reviews vaccine safety and efficacy, according to some public health experts and physicians.

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices

 (ACIP) got support in their work. Another commenter proposed banning vaccines altogether.

The new members of ACIP convened on June 25 for 

 of the board’s 2-day meeting, with new members appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The board advises the CDC, which sets the nation’s adult and childhood immunization schedules.

In recent weeks, health care advocates and medical organizations 

 without public vetting of their backgrounds. The former members themselves published a joint editorial claiming his actions “critically weakened” the nation’s vaccine program.

Along with a review of studies on inoculations against various illnesses, they opened the floor for 10 members of the public to comment.

Many states, including large ones like California and New York, are misusing ACIP guidelines to restrict medical exemptions for school vaccine requirements, said Kim Mack Rosenberg, Esq, general counsel for 

. Kennedy founded that organization and has become a public voice in questioning whether childhood vaccines have harmful, not healthy, effects.

ACIP has acknowledged its guidelines are not exhaustive, and the board cannot define all reasons why a child may need a medical exemption, Rosenberg said. However, many states and schools are overriding treating physicians’ clinical judgments and limited exemptions based on ACIP recommendations. They are ignoring other serious risks or reasons why a vaccine may need to be deferred, she said.

“I urge you to amend the best practices guidelines on this or issue a clear public statement on your website affirming the CDC is not authorized to give medical advice about what an individual child may need to stay safe, that the guidelines are not exhaustive and cannot define every reason for a medical exemptions, and only treating physicians using CDC guidance, other evidence, patient and family history, their clinical judgment, and any other information relevant to an individual child's health, should determine if an exemption is warranted,” Rosenberg said. “Without your action, misapplication of the ACIP guidelines will continue to have devastating consequences.”

Rosenberg offered an example of a New York teen who had physicians agreeing that a third hepatitis B vaccine could endanger her life. She wanted to attend school and even tried to get the shot at a walk-in clinic, but was excluded from classes because she did not have the required shot, Rosenberg said.

Meanwhile, states are using the ACIP guidelines to threaten doctors’ licenses, she said.

“Your timely action is needed this summer to safeguard vulnerable students,” Rosenberg said.

Kennedy’s actions to dismiss 17 ACIP members and reappoint his own selection were disappointing to members of the 

 (BCHC), a group of 35 of the nation’s largest metropolitan health departments, said BCHC executive director Chrissie Juliano.

People around the country visit local health departments to obtain vaccines and gather information from trusted sources. Those departments, in turn, look to ACIP for vaccine recommendations.

“But with all due respect to the new committee members, there's genuine worry about whether that will remain the case,” Juliano said. “For more than 60 years, ACIP has provided independent, science-based, nonpartisan, and objective vaccine recommendations. Clinicians, health departments, and families across the country rely on these recommendations. At a time when trust in public health is already low, the sudden dismissal of an entire committee will only cause additional confusion and distrust.”

Vaccines are one of public health’s greatest accomplishments, preventing disease and saving lives, Juliano said. ACIP members must follow the science and make decisions based on public health, she said.

“The Big Cities Health Coalition is deeply concerned that many routine vaccines may soon become inaccessible or unaffordable for millions of Americans if ACIP makes changes based on ideology rather than science,” Juliano said. “The stakes are simply too high to let that happen.”

The former members of ACIP had the expertise to design vaccine studies, but it is clear the new members do not, said Mary Koslap-Petraco, DNP, PNP-BC, CPNP. Koslap-Petraco is also chair of 

Citing her own experience, Koslap-Petraco said she has patients with long COVID who were not vaccinated. Parents are being misled by myths and disinformation on the Internet, losing faith in their primary care providers, she said.

In her vicinity, the churchyards on Long Island, New York, have headstones of children with their causes of death—measles, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, Koslap-Petraco said. Years ago, her mother had polio, and her sister’s immune system was permanently damaged from measles.

“Do we really want to witness this again? I will leave it to all of you to explain to the parents why their children did not have access to life-saving vaccines,” Koslap-Petraco said.

Caroline Brown, MD, FAAP, IBCIC, described her experience as a pediatrician in North Carolina.

“I've cared for children in this community for nearly 2 decades, and I've seen what vaccine-preventable diseases do to otherwise healthy kids,” she said. “I've treated infants with blue faces gasping for breath from [respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)] and pertussis, children in the [intensive care unit] paralyzed, brain damaged, or missing limbs from illnesses we now have vaccines to prevent.”

Older colleagues who treated children in the 1980s and 1990s are haunted by experiences seeing children ravaged and suffering from disease, she said. The same day as the meeting, her home state confirmed its first case of measles in her county.

“So, I've spent the past 24 hours responding to panicked parents worrying about their young children,” Brown said. “We must acknowledge that measles spread throughout our country is our reality today, only because of the fear-mongering and pseudoscience that has overtaken our country. Remember, measles was completely eradicated from the [US] 25 years ago and is back now because of declining vaccine rates fueled by misinformation that is not only allowed but amplified by voices of some of you sitting on this very committee.

“The parents of the children I care for are frightened, watching health policies shift from evidence to ideology and from science to self-interest,” she said.

Amy J. Hardin, MD, a pediatrician from Georgia, described her medical training at Emory University, located near the CDC headquarters. She described the time before influenza and pneumococcal vaccines, with feverish children admitted and undergoing numerous tests for meningitis, sepsis, and other illnesses. Those infections did not discriminate by income, and children from all walks of life died or survived with disabilities, deafness, cerebral palsy, or severe learning challenges, she said.

Hardin said she sleeps better on call and remembers the year 1999—the time of the last funeral she attended for a patient who died of a vaccine-preventable disease. That 2-year-old boy missed his shot because his mother got sick and forgot to reschedule the checkup.

“You are now the decision makers in your new role of the ACIP to safeguard American children,” Hardin said. “They are your responsibility and mine too. Please don't let us go backwards. Don't make my job a more difficult one.”

One commenter, Adrianna Williams, called for ACIP to abolish all vaccines until their safety could be proven. She cited data on more than 8,000 incidents and 70 deaths following vaccination for RSV, per the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

“Vaccines are known to be a bioweapon mechanism,” Williams said. “Some don't even know it. Evidence shows that many are systemically medically harmed by all vaccines, and the damage has been shown to be done cumulatively over time and in negative interaction with ingredients and adjuvants without bodily functions. You need to do due diligence to address this issue with more integrity than what we have seen.”

Williams cited the Stop the Shots community on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

Roselie Bright, a retired doctoral-level epidemiologist for the Food and Drug Administration, acknowledged that she witnessed many instances where staff and managers sought to advocate for decisions that “felt right,” despite the data supporting an alternative course of action. She learned to trust the input of other experts in different disciplines, and most of the decisions produced by the system were valid and well-supported.Her trust has been shaken due to mass firings at HHS, intimidation, overruling of science by political appointees, and radical changes to ACIP. Bright proffered suggestions to restore trust and evaluate vaccines:

Consider the severity of long COVID when recommending COVID-19 vaccine schedules.

Recommend universal access to FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines 3 times a year.

Call for the development of a more effective COVID-19 vaccine.

Provide ACIP meeting materials to the public when they are made available to ACIP members, and allow at least a week for written comments to be filed.

Provide summaries and discussions of public comments at ACIP meetings.

Allow more and longer time for oral public comments at meetings.

Reinstate the 17 ACIP members who were let go.

Require ACIP members to show evidence of the ability to perform science-based assessments of reports and studies.

Bar ACIP members from those who refuse to follow established principles of clinical and human research ethics.

On the first day of the meeting, four other speakers described their medical experiences and generally supported vaccination. The webcast did not display their names. 

 requested a list of the speakers from the CDC, but did not have confirmed identities for them. The commenters mentioned in this article were identified through online sources, based on the names announced during the webcast.

As the newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met for the first time under sweeping changes by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the national spotlight turned to the panel’s legitimacy, vaccine guidance, and whether science or ideology would steer public health policy in a polarized era.

A Controversial Reboot: New Vaccine Panel Faces Scrutiny, Support, and Sharp Divides

This article first appeared on our sister brand, 

Health care organizations ripped the decision to 

dissolve a national advisory board on vaccines

, and apparently reconstitute it for a meeting this month.

On June 9, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced he was firing 17 sitting members of the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices (ACIP). Doctors were “outraged,” calling it a “coup” that will generate confusion, not clarity, for people who want to learn about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

The committee, largely made up of physicians, makes recommendations for 

. The panel advises the CDC. Its members will be replaced with new members currently under consideration.

Kennedy cited at least 2 federal reports that spelled out conflicts of interest when ACIP members received “substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines. The members were not necessarily corrupt," he said.

“The problem is their immersion in a system of industry-aligned incentives and paradigms that enforce a narrow proindustry orthodoxy,” he said.

Kennedy’s action prompted “outrage” and is nothing short of a medical coup, according to some of the leading doctors’ groups.

American College of Physicians President Jason M. Goldman, MD, MACP, said the organization “is highly concerned and outraged” by Kennedy’s decision.

“This announcement, coupled with the recent, preemptive actions HHS took on the COVID-19 vaccines that circumvented the standard, transparent vaccine review process, interferes with the practice of evidence-based medicine and destabilizes a trusted source and its evidence-based process for helping guide decision-making for vaccines to protect the public health in our country,” Goldman said in a statement.

The action “will seriously erode public confidence in our government’s ability to ensure the health of the American public, and it will endanger the safety, welfare, and lives of our patients,” Goldman said. “We call on the administration to immediately reverse course.”

American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin, MD, called the move “a coup.”

“Today’s ACIP members are some of the most qualified individuals to evaluate vaccines,” Benjamin said in a statement. “They possess deep understanding of science and were vetted for conflicts of interest prior to appointment. Removing all ACIP members at once is not how democracies work and it’s not good for the health of the nation.”

Benjamin has been a vocal critic of Kennedy, calling on the secretary to resign or be fired from the post. He used Kennedy’s initials in his statement and referred to Kennedy’s boss, President Donald J. Trump.

“RFK says he wants to restore trust and transparency. This action immediately raises concern over the ability of any slate of committee members appointed by the Trump administration to be viewed as impartial to RFK's views on any decision, and therefore their actions will be suspect and likely mistrusted,” Benjamin said.

American Medical Association President Bruce A. Scott, MD, issued a statement noting the ongoing outbreak of measles, which is partly fueled by a declining rate of childhood vaccination.

“For generations, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has been a trusted national source of science- and data-driven advice and guidance on the use of vaccines to prevent and control disease. Physicians, parents, community leaders, and public health officials rely on them for clinical guidance, public health information, and knowledge,” Scott’s statement said.

The “action to remove the 17 sitting members of ACIP undermines that trust and upends a transparent process that has saved countless lives,” he said.

“With an ongoing measles outbreak and routine child vaccination rates declining, this move will further fuel the spread of vaccine-preventable illnesses,” Scott said.

The “unprecedented” move and Kennedy’s and the administration’s contradictory announcements on vaccines will cause confusion and uncertainty for families, said a 

 by Susan Kressly, MD, FAAP, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“We are witnessing an escalating effort by the administration to silence independent medical expertise and stoke distrust in lifesaving vaccines,” Kressly said. “Creating confusion around proven vaccines endangers families' health and contributes to the spread of preventable diseases. This move undermines the trust pediatricians have built over decades with our patients and leaves us without critical scientific expertise we rely on.
“Children and families must be able to access the immunizations they need to stay healthy,” her statement said. “Our vaccine infrastructure must include this critical step of nonpartisan, expert review and discussion of the science and clinical recommendations for individual vaccines. Families and children will be the ones to pay the price for this decision.”

Firing the panel of vaccine experts shows the Kennedy-Trump administration is escalating its war on science and public health, said Brandon G. Wilson, DrPH, MHA, senior director of health innovation and public health at Community Catalyst. That organization is a nonprofit advocate for health care access.

“Public trust is built through transparency, independent science, and engagement with communities—not through political purges, disinformation, and ideological control of public health agencies,” Wilson said in 

. “At a time when preventable diseases are resurging, this move puts lives at risk and further politicizes decisions that should be guided by evidence and public interest, not conspiracy theories and personal agendas.”

Alliance for Aging Research President Sue Peschin issued 

 with a link to the CDC’s criteria for serving on ACIP. That website includes rules for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest due to business interests, positions of authority, or other connections with organizations relevant to the work of ACIP. When members disclose a conflict of interest, they are prohibited from participating in deliberations and votes on the relevant topic.

Peschin called the move “shocking and unscrupulous.”

“The ACIP has consistently been a trusted advisory body that closely followed administrative rules regarding conflicts of interest, rotating terms, and transparency, and we are very concerned that this move signals that impartiality may soon be replaced by a fealty to the secretary,” she said.

“We fear that this new clean sweep with no overlap will likely lead to a committee that will consist entirely of members who have no previous experience with the ACIP or with geriatrics,” Peschin’s statement said. “We hope that the new committee maintains this expertise and remains nonpartisan.

“We call on policymakers to intervene in ACIP’s disruption,” she said. “Do not be fooled—Secretary Kennedy is not advancing ‘public trust in vaccines,’ but is instead undoing 50 years of public health achievement.”

At least 2 congressional physicians issued statements about Kennedy’s action.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, MD (R-Lousiana), and Rep. Kim Schrier, MD (D-Washington), used social media website X, formerly Twitter, to comment.

“Of course, now the fear is that the ACIP will be filled up with people who know nothing about vaccines except suspicion,” Cassidy said in his X post. “I’ve just spoken with Secretary Kennedy, and I’ll continue to talk with him to ensure this is not the case.”

At least 2 people on X noted that Cassidy specifically mentioned his experience with vaccines as a doctor, and the ACIP, in his 

speech announcing support for Kennedy’s nomination

“If confirmed, he will maintain the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices without changes,” Cassidy said in the written version of his February 4 floor speech in favor of Kennedy.

Schrier said the move opens the opportunity for Kennedy to make up his own recommendations about vaccines or fill the ACIP “with conspiracy theorists and social media influencers.”

“This is a direct attack on science and a threat to public health,” she said. As a pediatrician, Schrier said she has relied on the ACIP recommendations.

“Anticipating that RFK Jr might do exactly this, just last week, I introduced 

 to ensure that the ACIP would become a legally required organization staffed only by people with relevant scientific expertise and that any decision to not follow their recommendations must have an evidence-based rationale,” Schrier said. She referred to the Family Vaccine Protection Act, introduced with Rep. Frank Pallone (D-New Jersey). 

In a joint statement last week, they criticized Kennedy for presiding “over the largest measles outbreak in decades while actively undermining vaccination efforts for COVID-19, measles, polio, and the flu—especially for pregnant women and the tiniest infants, 2 of the highest risk populations,” Pallone said. “Enough is enough—it’s time to take politics out of medicine and ensure all families have access to affordable life-saving vaccines.”

The administration is “prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Kennedy said in the official HHS announcement. “The public must know that unbiased science—evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest—guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”

“The committee has been plagued with persistent conflicts of interest and has become little more than a rubber stamp for any vaccine,” Kennedy wrote. “It has never recommended against a vaccine—even those later withdrawn for safety reasons. It has failed to scrutinize vaccine products given to babies and pregnant women. To make matters worse, the groups that inform ACIP meet behind closed doors, violating the legal and ethical principle of transparency crucial to maintaining public trust.”

There are political implications as well. All the members were appointed during the administration of President Joe Biden, including 13 who were appointed last year. Their terms would run for years, meaning the current administration would be prevented from choosing a majority of the committee until 2028.

It appeared there would be appointments of new advisers within the next 2 weeks. Kennedy’s HHS announcement noted ACIP will convene its next meeting June 25 to 27 at the Atlanta, Georgia, headquarters of CDC.

“A clean sweep is necessary to reestablish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy said. “ACIP's new members will prioritize public health and evidence-based medicine. The committee will no longer function as a rubber stamp for industry profit-taking agendas. The entire world once looked to American health regulators for guidance, inspiration, scientific impartiality, and unimpeachable integrity. Public trust has eroded. Only through radical transparency and gold standard science will we earn it back.”

, as of April this year, remained online on June 10. The current members were:

Chair Helen Keipp Talbot, MD, MPH, an ACIP member from 2018 to 2023. “In advising the government, ACIP evaluates the safety and efficacy of vaccines and their role in personal and public health,” Talbot said in a 2024 news release from her employer, Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “My hope is to continue to improve immunization guidelines in adults and prevent disease. I am honored to serve as chair of the committee.”

Edwin Jose Asturias, MD, professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases epidemiology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and Colorado School of Public Health.

Noel T. Brewer, PhD, Gillings Distinguished Professor in Public Health at the Gillings School of Global Public Health in North Carolina.

Oliver Brooks, MD, FAAP, chief medical officer of Watts HealthCare Corp. in Los Angeles, California.

Lin H. Chen, MD, FACP, FASTMH, FISTM, director of Mount Auburn Travel Medicine Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Helen Y. Chu, MD, MPH, FIDSA, professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington.

Sybli Cineas, MD, FAAP, FACP, associate professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Denise J. Jamieson, MD, MPH, vice president for medical affairs and dean at Carver College of Medicine at University of Iowa.

Mini Kamboj, MD, FIDSA, FSHEA, attending physician at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

George Kuchel, MD CM, FRCO,AGSF, FGSA, FAAAS, professor and travelers chair, geriatrics and gerontology, UConn Center on Aging in Farmington, Connecticut.

Jamie Loehr, MD, FAAFP, owner of Cayuga Family Medicine in Ithaca, New York.

Karyn Lyons, MS, RN, immunization section chief of Illinois Department of Public Health in Springfield, Illinois.

Yvonne (Bonnie) Maldonado, MD, senior associate dean for faculty development and diversity, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford.

Charlotte A. Moser, MS, codirector of the Vaccine Education Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

Robert Schechter, MD, MSc, chief of the immunization branch of the California Department of Public Health.

Albert C. Shaw, MD, PhD, FIDSA, professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine.

Jane R. Zucker, MD, MSc, FIDSA, adjunct professor at SUNY Downstate School of Public Health in New York.

Asturias, Brewer, Chen, Chu, Kamboj, Kuchel, Lyons, Moser, and Zucker were appointed in 2024 for terms lasting until June 2028. The CDC roster did not list terms for Maldonado or Schechter.

Health leaders are outraged after HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. abruptly fired all 17 members of the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel, calling it a political purge that threatens public trust and vaccine safety.

“A Coup Against Science”: Health Groups Decry Kennedy’s Firing of National Vaccine Advisory Panel

 on his first day in office withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). The order was one of several focused on health care-related initiatives.

The order states that the US is withdrawing “due to the organization’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic that arose out of Wuhan, China, and other global health crises, its failure to adopt urgently needed reforms, and its inability to demonstrate independence from the inappropriate political influence of WHO member states.”

The order also states that the payments are unfair, with China having 300% more population than the US but paying 90% less to the organization.

The order establishes that the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs shall create directorates and coordinating mechanisms within the National Security Council apparatus “as he deems necessary and appropriate to safeguard public health and fortify biosecurity.”

All funding, support, and resources for the WHO from the US are immediately suspended, and the order mandates that the Director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy “shall review, rescind, and replace the 2024 US Global Health Security Strategy as soon as practicable.”

Other executive orders issued by the president included:

Rescinding an order for the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to experiment with 3 drug pricing models—none of which had been fully implemented yet. The 

 were intended to help Medicaid pay for cell and gene therapies, help Medicare pay less for drugs that receive accelerated approval from the FDA, and a project to encourage Medicare prescription drug plans to offer generic drugs for a $2 copay.

Rescinding an order that increased the enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act in most states and funding for third parties that help people enroll.

Rescinding several COVID-19-related Biden-era policies were rescinded during the pandemic. The policies related to testing, treatment research, and economic relief.

Rescinding a policy against discriminating against people based on sexual or gender identity and ending conversion therapy.

Rescinding a policy that offered students protections based on sex and gender identity in schools.

Executive orders issued on the first day of the presidency affect various health initiatives.
