MD, states suing Trump administration over vaccine policy changes - Maryland Daily Record

NEW YORK – Over a dozen Democrat-led states, including Maryland, brought a lawsuit Tuesday against the Trump administration over recent changes to the federal government’s childhood vaccine schedule, as medical organizations warn the changes could lower inoculation rates.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has upended longstanding vaccine policies since taking his position.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a new immunization schedule removing universal recommendations for vaccines against COVID-19, rotavirus, influenza, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, stating that parents should consult with health care providers under what it calls shared clinical decision-making.

A complaint was filed in a Northern California federal court Tuesday challenging those changes.

“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,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown said in a news release. “We’re taking the administration to court because our kids’ lives are too important to leave to junk science and conspiracy theories.”

An HHS spokesperson declined to comment on ongoing litigation and referred to a prior statement saying the CDC‘s updated vaccine schedule protects children “while aligning U.S. guidance with international norms.”

The lawsuit would also challenge Kennedy’s replacement of members serving on the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Reuters previously reported that the California AG’s office was preparing the lawsuit.

That CDC panel is set to meet in March, after its previously scheduled February session was canceled.

The multistate lawsuit would mirror a legal action previously filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical organizations. A Massachusetts federal judge has not yet decided that case.

In a Tuesday news conference, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said states suffer unique harms compared to other kinds of plaintiffs.

“California will be forced to expend resources to treat once-rare diseases, to respond to outbreaks and to combat misinformation,” Bonta said.

The 14 Democratic state attorneys general participating in the multistate challenge are: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin, in addition to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, also a Democrat.

Reporting by Dan Levine; editing by Bill Berkrot and Nia Williams.