“All of this is to say that this is one way in which these decisions have historically been made – a method that is scientific and legalized by procedural requirements,” Judge Murphy wrote.
“Unfortunately, the Government has ignored these methods and thereby undermined the integrity of its own actions,” he said. “First, the Government bypassed ACIP to change vaccination schedules, which is both a technical and procedural failure in itself, but also a strong indicator of something more fundamentally problematic: the abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise that that committee embodied. Second, the Government removed all duly appointed members of ACIP and replaced them once and for all without any trace of them. Decades of ACIP member selection again underscores the reasons the procedures exist. and increases the likelihood that the newly appointed ACIP will not comply with the legislation.
A rebuke to ACIP members
The judge also condemned the dismissal of former ACIP members, the apparent lack of vetting of new members and the lack of qualifications by naming members.
“First, of the fifteen current ACIP members, even on the most generous reading, only six appear to have any meaningful experience in vaccines. is the focus of ACIP,” he wrote (emphasis added).
“At least six ACIP members—Dr. Hillary Blackburn, Dr. Evelyn Griffin, Dr. Joseph Hibbeln, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, Dr. James Pagano, Dr. Raymond Pollack—appear to lack any experience or professional qualifications related to vaccines or immunization as required by ACIP’s Bylaws.” “An additional three of ACIP’s current members—Dr. Retsef Levy, Dr. Robert Malone, and Dr. Catherine Stein—have some experience with ACIP’s function, but lack the qualifications and experience to organize an expertise in vaccines and immunization.”
In sum, Judge Murphy argued that Kennedy’s handpicked counsel did not meet the ACIP charter’s requirement that members be knowledgeable in relevant fields. They also do not meet federal regulations requiring advisory boards to be “reasonably balanced” in representing views within those relevant fields.
