RFK Jr Sued by Medical Societies Over Unlawful COVID-19 Vaccine Rollbacks

Six leading medical organizations and a pregnant physician have filed a lawsuit against HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, arguing that his recent removal of COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people was unlawful and dangerous.¹

The case, American Academy of Pediatrics v Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., was filed July 7 in the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs include:

• American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
• American College of Physicians (ACP)
• American Public Health Association (APHA)
• Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
• Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA)
• Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM)
• An anonymous pregnant individual (Jane Doe)

They allege Kennedy has undermined federal vaccine policy by eliminating long-standing CDC recommendations without following required procedures and by dismissing vaccine experts from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), according to the news release.

“The Department of Health and Human Services has historically been a trusted, essential partner of the AAP, which is why my pediatrician colleagues and I have grown increasingly alarmed as the nation's leading health care agency has become unrecognizable,” Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, president of AAP, said in a press briefing.² “Over the past several months, experts have been sidelined, evidence has been undermined, and our nation's vaccine infrastructure is now threatened. These actions have been coupled with the spread of vaccine myths and disinformation, a great deal of which is being started or amplified by top leaders at HHS.”

Pregnant patients are now questioning not just COVID-19 vaccines, but also longstanding vaccines like influenza and Tdap. | Image credit: Rafael Henrique – stock.adobe.com

Jane Doe is an anonymous pregnant physician from Massachusetts who is at risk of not receiving a COVID-19 booster during her pregnancy due to Kennedy’s directive, despite being at high risk for infectious disease exposure in her hospital workplace.¹ Other plaintiffs had also been experiencing direct harm within the state, satisfying the requirements for venue and personal jurisdiction to be filed in the state.²

Kennedy Pulls COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations

Kennedy announced May 27, 2025, that the CDC would stop recommending routine COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant women and healthy children.³ Typically, ACIP first meets to vote on these changes, which are then reviewed by the CDC director before becoming policy. However, there has been no acting director since 2023, and Kennedy wiped ACIP clean of members less than 2 weeks later.^4,5 While he claimed this was because the committee was “plagued with persistent conflicts of interest,” Kennedy, a known vaccine critic, received backlash for filling 2 spots with members who have voiced skepticism towards vaccines and downplayed the severity of COVID-19: Robert Malone, MD, and Martin Kulldorff, PhD.⁶ Since being appointed, Kennedy has also cancelled CDC and FDA vaccine panel meetings and announced studies looking into discredited links between vaccines and autism.¹

The plaintiffs argue the committee has undermined the science behind vaccine recommendations, and are seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against these COVID-19 vaccine policy changes and a declaratory judgment that Kennedy’s actions were unlawful. Richard H. Hughes IV, JD, MPH, counsel for the plaintiffs, called the Trump administration “an existential threat to vaccination in America,” saying it’s important to take a stand with the 6 organizations and a patient to fight back.²

“[Kennedy] is incredibly crafty in the way that he approaches public messaging,” Hughes said during the press briefing. “Sometimes he will refer to actual studies and misconstrue them; he operates in a lot of half-truths. We think that this effort is a really important part of the overall strategy to put a stop to the secretary's lies.”

“Quite frankly, this administration has both broken the law and is not providing good scientific evidence and policies,” added Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director of APHA.

The Impact on Providers and Patients

Sindhu K. Srinivas, MD, MSCE, president of SMFM, emphasized that the federal directive pulling COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for pregnant individuals is “compromising the standard of care” and “has no evidentiary basis in obstetrics or infectious disease.” Representing more than 7000 physicians who care for high-risk pregnancies, Srinivas said SMFM members have found it harder to effectively counsel their patients.

Peer-reviewed studies, she noted, have shown that receiving the COVID-19 vaccine during any trimester reduces serious illness and hospitalization in pregnant individuals and their infants without showing any harm to the mother, pregnancy, or newborn. Patients are now questioning not just COVID-19 vaccination, but also longstanding and lifesaving vaccines like influenza and Tdap during pregnancy, according to Srinivas. “Without prompt and immediate intervention, these actions will continue to undermine the physician-patient relationship and jeopardize maternal and neonatal health outcomes,” she said.

Beyond just COVID-19 prevention, a lack of clear guidelines is causing worry among parents and physicians alike. Kressly added that pediatricians across the country are seeing more parents have concerns about vaccines and immunization schedules, and parents who are scared of losing access to these vaccines.

“It is really unconscionable to take away a parent's ability and choice to protect their children through vaccination, but that is exactly what Senator Kennedy's actions are doing by removing federal recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines as well as other vaccines,” said Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP, president of IDSA. “Infectious disease physicians will not stand by while a single federal official basically unilaterally and effectively strips Americans of their choice to choose to vaccinate with actions that thoroughly disregard overwhelming scientific evidence and decades of established federal processes. Our focus really does remain the protection of all patients and public health.”

References

1. Leading medical professional societies, patient sue HHS, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for unlawful, unilateral vaccine changes. IDSA. Updated July 7, 2025. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.idsociety.org/news--publications-new/articles/2025/leading-medical-professional-societies-patient-sue-hhs-robert-f.-kennedy-jr.--for-unlawful-unilateral-vaccine-changes
2. Hughes RH, Kressly SJ, Goldman JM, et al. Zoom presser to brief reporters about breaking news on the American Academy of Pediatrics v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. lawsuit filed today. July 7, 2025. Accessed July 7, 2025.
3. Klein HE. CDC pulls COVID-19 vaccine recommendation for pregnant women, healthy children. AJMC^®. May 27, 2025. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/cdc-pulls-covid-19-vaccine-recommendation-for-pregnant-women-healthy-children
4. AJMC Staff. Walensky to leave CDC; WHO ends global COVID-19 emergency. AJMC. May 5, 2023. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/walensky-to-leave-cdc-who-ends-global-covid-19-emergency
5. Grossi G. RFK Jr sweeps clean CDC vaccine advisory panel, aiming to bolster public confidence. AJMC. June 9, 2025. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/rfk-jr-sweeps-clean-cdc-vaccine-advisory-panel-aiming-to-bolster-public-confidence
6. Steinzor P. CDC vaccine panel meets for first time after RFK Jr expelled former members. AJMC. June 25, 2025. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/cdc-vaccine-panel-meets-for-first-time-after-rfk-jr-expelled-former-members