Overview
- In a Boston hearing, DOJ lawyer Isaac Belfer told Judge Brian Murphy that the HHS secretary’s vaccine decisions are effectively unreviewable, even under an extreme measles-shot hypothetical.
- Government lawyers argued the secretary has broad discretion to set guidance and to choose which evidence and experts to rely on.
- The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups said recent shifts bypassed normal procedures and lacked supporting science, calling the actions improper and unreasoned.
- Plaintiffs asked the court to block a May directive to remove CDC schedule recommendations for COVID-19 shots for pregnant women and children, a January move reshaping childhood schedules, and an upcoming ACIP meeting on vaccine injuries and Long COVID.
- Murphy said he will issue a ruling before the CDC’s vaccine advisors meet on March 18; context for the case includes Kennedy’s replacement of all 17 ACIP members last summer and ACIP’s December vote ending the universal hepatitis B birth-dose recommendation.