Attorney General Brown Joins Multistate Lawsuit Challenging the Kennedy Vaccine ... - Maryland

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contacts

[email protected]

410-576-7009

Complaint Alleges RFK Jr. and CDC Bypassed Federal Law, Ignored Scientific Evidence, and Endangered Children by Gutting Recommended Childhood Vaccines

*BALTIMORE, MD *– Attorney General Anthony G. Brown joined a multistate lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s radical overhaul of the nation’s childhood immunization schedule. The complaint names Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Jay Bhattacharya, and the CDC and HHS as defendants.

The lawsuit challenges a January 5, 2026 CDC “Decision Memo” that stripped seven childhood vaccines – those protecting against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – of their universally recommended status. The complaint also challenges the unlawful replacement of officials on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the expert federal panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades.

“The Trump Administration‘s reckless changes to the child vaccine schedule will confuse parents about which shots their children need to stay safe and healthy. As fewer children get vaccinated, preventable and deadly diseases will spread throughout our daycares and schools, sickening families and threatening children’s wellbeing,” said Attorney General Brown. “We’re taking the administration to court because our kids’ lives are too important to leave to junk science and conspiracy theories.”

According to the 2024 CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, researchers have estimated that among children born in the U.S. between 1994 and 2023, routine childhood vaccinations prevented approximately 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1.1 million deaths, generating $2.7 trillion in societal savings. This remarkable achievement has been made possible in large part by leading medical scholars and public health experts who have served on ACIP and established the science-based childhood vaccination schedule that federal agencies, states, and parents have confidently relied on for decades.

In June 2025, Secretary Kennedy abruptly fired all 17 ACIP voting members and replaced them with individuals who lack the scientific qualifications required by ACIP’s own charter and the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). At least nine of the 13 current ACIP members lack the expertise or professional qualifications required for the role, and a majority have publicly expressed views aligned with Secretary Kennedy’s well-documented opposition to vaccines.

In December 2025, the reconstituted ACIP reversed nearly 30 years of CDC policy by eliminating the recommendation for a universal hepatitis B birth dose – a vaccine that is up to 90 percent effective in preventing perinatal infection when administered within 24 hours of birth.

Shortly thereafter, the CDC expanded its ideological attack on routine childhood vaccines. On January 5, 2026, then-Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill – who has no medical or scientific background – signed off on a “Decision Memo” that demoted seven vaccines from the universally recommended childhood vaccination schedule to a lesser status that invites confusion and uncertainty.

The Decision Memo was not based on any new scientific evidence, any recommendation by a lawfully constituted ACIP, or any comprehensive, systematic review of the available data. Instead, it relied primarily on superficial comparisons to purported “peer countries” – particularly Denmark – while ignoring the fundamental differences between those nations and the United States, as well as the overwhelming evidence supporting the effectiveness of the CDC’s pre-Kennedy childhood immunization schedule.

Additionally, in contrast to countries like Denmark with universal healthcare, more than 100 million Americans lack usual access to primary care, meaning the instruction to “discuss with your clinician” frequently operates as a barrier, not neutral guidance.

Lower vaccination rates will in turn lead directly to higher rates of infectious disease. For Maryland and other states, this means a greater strain on their Medicaid programs and public health systems, more time and money spent combatting outbreaks and misinformation, and wasted resources decoupling state laws, regulations, and public guidance from ACIP’s and CDC’s now-untrustworthy recommendations. Indeed, the foreseeable increase in acute care needs caused by these changes will strain state funds and resources, such as increased claims to Medicaid, CHIP, and to the Maryland Children’s Health Program (MCHP) from providers and hospitals. Already, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has devoted significantly more time and resources to combating vaccine hesitancy caused by the federal schedule changes, including increased education on the safety and efficacy of vaccines through social media, state websites, press events and official statements.

Moreover, Maryland has invested significant work in recent years to increase uptake of RSV vaccine and monoclonal antibodies across the State. Contrary to Secretary Kennedy’s misinformation and insinuations, vaccines previously recommended on the CDC’s pre-Kennedy childhood immunization schedule remain safe and effective, and they are critical for protecting America’s children and public health at large.

The plaintiff states are asking the court to declare the Kennedy Schedule and the Kennedy ACIP appointments unlawful and to enjoin, vacate, and set aside both the new immunization schedule and the unlawful appointments.

In filing the lawsuit, Attorney General Brown is joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and the Governor of Pennsylvania.