Oregon joins lawsuit challenging RFK Jr.'s changes to childhood vaccine schedules - KGW

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has joined a coalition of other states in suing President Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for a series of recent decisions chipping away at childhood immunizations in the U.S.

The lawsuit names Kennedy and Jay Bhattacharya, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and prevention, as well as the CDC and HHS.

“In Oregon, we’re already seeing the consequences of the federal government’s reckless actions and vaccine narrative,” said Rayfield in a statement. “Just last week, our state health officials declared a measles outbreak — with most confirmed cases linked to unvaccinated individuals. Preventable diseases are returning when we undermine public confidence in proven vaccines. We must trust science, trust doctors, and protect our children.”

Across the U.S. last year, there were more reported measles cases than the nation has seen since 1991. Throughout the early 2000s, yearly measles case counts were negligible due to widespread uptake of the MMR vaccine. In fact, measles were considered to be officially eliminated in the U.S. as of the year 2000, according to the CDC, with the only new cases brought from abroad.

Since Kennedy — a longtime vaccine skeptic — took the helm at HHS, the agency has been making further inroads against vaccines. The new multi-state lawsuit highlights a January "decision memo" from the CDC which stripped seven childhood vaccines of their universally recommended status, including those for RSV, flu, and hepatitis A and B.

The CDC under Kennedy has dabbled in unsubstantiated claims that vaccines, particularly the MMR vaccine, are linked to autism.

"The Decision Memo was not based on any new scientific evidence, any recommendation by a lawfully constituted ACIP, or any systematic review of the available data," Rayfield's office said in a statement. "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, making the idea of 'discussing vaccines with your clinician' essentially meaningless."

Soon after his appointment to HHS, Kennedy fired and replaced all seventeen voting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, a panel which guides U.S. vaccines policy. By December, the new ACIP reversed a CDC policy of nearly 30 years by eliminating a recommended universal hepatitis B vaccine at birth, Rayfield's office said.

The lawsuit challenges those ACIP member replacements as unlawful, in addition to the decision memo, which was approved in early January by Jim O'Neill, then-acting director of the CDC.

"Contrary to Secretary Kennedy’s misinformation and insinuation, 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," Rayfield's office added.

Joining Oregon in the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.

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