Sweeping challenge to RFK Jr.’s vaccine policies heard by judge

BOSTON — After a full day of oral arguments in a packed courtroom, Boston federal judge Brian E. Murphy did not rule from the bench on a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the professional body representing the country’s pediatricians, against the Department of Health and Human Services, focused on vaccines.  

The judge asked for more information before he decides on the legality of changes to the childhood vaccine schedule and to the federal committee that advises on vaccine recommendations. Murphy asked the government’s lawyers to respond to declarations that the plaintiffs submitted the evening before the hearing — including a declaration from immediate past AAP president Susan Kressley. Murphy asked that the DOJ submit its response by the end of the day Wednesday. 

The suit was filed in federal district court in Boston after Kennedy announced via a video posted on X that Covid vaccines would be removed from the childhood immunization schedule. The scope of the suit has since expanded to include challenges to Kennedy’s reconstitution of the panel that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccines, as well as to the pared down vaccine schedule published in January.