Influential vaccine advisory panel ACIP could be ‘disbanded’ after lawsuit, says former deputy chair

Influential vaccine advisory panel may be ‘disbanded’ after lawsuit, former deputy says

By Claire Cameron edited by Jeanna Bryner

An influential and independent vaccine advisory panel has apparently been disbanded, according to its former deputy chairman, Robert Malone. For more than half a century, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has informed US public health policy, helping to set the nation’s recommended routine immunization schedules for children and adults.

In a social media post Thursday, Malone said the Trump administration had made the decision to disband and “re-create a new ACIP committee.” Malone said the move was in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and five other medical groups challenging the appointments of ACIP members made over the past year by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

A federal judge ruled Monday that Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, likely appointed 13 ACIP panel members in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), which requires such advisory groups to be “fair and balanced.” The ruling blocked their appointments, effectively halting ACIP’s work.

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“Any new iteration of the committee must be consistent with the laws at issue in our case, including FACA,” said Richard Hughes, a lead attorney for the AAP in the case against Kennedy. “Anything less than a qualified committee elected through the proper process will meet our challenge.”

According to Malone’s post, the decision to somehow recreate ACIP “will take less time than would be necessary to file and pursue an appeal. There will be no action by the government to respond to the defamatory characterization of the former ACIP members.”

It is unclear whether the Trump administration plans to appeal any part of the judge’s decision, which also temporarily blocked sweeping changes to the nation’s vaccine recommendations made under Kennedy. When the ruling was handed down, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Human Services said Scientific American that the department looked forward to the decision being overturned. HHS and Robert Malone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Editor’s note (3/19/26): This is news and will be updated.

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