NBC News
Several important medical organizations sued the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the Department of Human Health and Services (HHS), so they consider a “public health emergency that requires immediate legal measures and corrections.”
The lawsuit was filed on Monday at the United States District Court for the Massachusetts district.
The measure occurs after several recent actions against vaccines by Kennedy, including the dismissal of all members of an important panel of vaccine experts and the elimination of the recommendation that pregnant children and women are vaccinated against COVID-19.
“He is doing everything possible to undermine vaccines,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, one of the organizations that have joined the demand. “Frankly, we have already had enough.”
According to Richard Hughes, the main lawyer of the plaintiffs, it was a Kennedy publication at the end of May in the social network X in which the recommendations that children and pregnant women were vaccinated against the COVID-19, which represented the drop that filled the cup and caused legal action.
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“(The plaintiffs) ask the Court to order the secretary to announce in X that these immunization recommendations have been rejoined to the CDC immunization calendars,” Hughes told a press conference on Monday.
An HHS spokesman did not respond immediately to a comment request.
In a statement, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP, in English), Dr. Susan Kressly, said that “our immunization system has long been a cornerstone of the United States public health, but the measures of the current government are endangering their success.”
According to the AAP, at least 183 children have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic began.
“The only acceptable number of children dead by Covid-19 is zero”Said Dr. Tina Tan, President of the American Society of Infectious Diseases (IDSA), during the press conference. The IDSA is another of the plaintiffs in the trial.
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The American College of Physicians, the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance also participate in the demand.
A pregnant woman whose name was not revealed that she lives in Massachusetts also appears as a plaintiff. He said he could not be vaccinated against COVID-19 after Kennedy changed the recommendations. Pregnancy is a known risk of complications by COVID-19.
Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American Medical College, said that adults who come to their consultation are “reluctant” to be vaccinated.
“They no longer trust the system and This has a direct impact on the health of our patientsbecause if they do not vaccinate, they can get sick more severely, end hospitalized or even die, “Goldman said during the press conference.
