Tag: cdc

Judge Weighs Whether To Block Vaccines Changes From CDC, RFK Jr.

A federal judge weighing whether to block changes to U.S. vaccine guidance and an advisory panel did not immediately rule Feb. 13 after hearing from attorneys representing medical groups and the government.

Lawyers for the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and other groups told U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Boston that recent changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine schedule and the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel violate federal law and will reduce vaccination rates.

“This is a clear and present danger to public health,” said James Oh, a lawyer for the groups.

Oh said the schedule update, which removed the broad recommendation for six childhood vaccines for diseases including rotavirus, influenza and hepatitis A, “set off alarms” in the medical community and occurred without any rational explanation from the agency.

The CDC on Jan. 5, with backing from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., narrowed the number of vaccines routinely recommended by the childhood schedule.

Government officials said in filings that the the reasoning behind the change was in part due to an assessment carried out by senior health officials that analyzed the U.S. childhood schedule against schedules from other countries.

“The U.S. is a global outlier among peer nations in the number of target diseases included in its childhood vaccination schedule and in the total number of recommended vaccine doses,” the officials, Drs. Tracy Beth Hoeg and Martin Kulldorff, concluded.

The plaintiffs, which also include several women who say changes under Kennedy have prevented them from receiving vaccines, are challenging a series of actions. They focused on arguments for and against imposing an injunction blocking that update and the health secretary’s remaking of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee.

Oh said that the committee is not fairly balanced because it is dominated by people who oppose vaccines, in violation of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, and urged Murphy to block the committee’s upcoming Feb. 26–27 meeting.

Government lawyers said in a recent brief that the advisory committee members have a variety of employment histories and that the accusation they are anti-vaccine “does not accurately represent the members’ complex and nuanced perspectives and their committee voting records.”

Murphy asked during the hearing whether he could consider the “broader public health impacts” of the changes in vaccine recommendations while weighing the case.

Department of Justice lawyer Isaac Belfer told him health officials were not pursuing an anti-vaccine agenda and welcomed “spirited debate about vaccine policy.”

But he said the Department of Health and Human Services had broad authority to change policy to address a decline in public trust in vaccines following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The court cannot substitute its judgment in place of the agency,” Belfer said.

Murphy did not immediately rule.

With the meeting upcoming, he said he “must make a decision in this case on an uncomfortably tight timeline.”

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Powdered whole milk may be culprit in botulism outbreak that sickened dozens of babies

Powdered whole milk used to make ByHeart infant formula could be the source of contamination that led to an outbreak of botulism that sickened dozens of babies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the details on Friday.

Powdered whole milk may be culprit in botulism outbreak

What we know:

Testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found that bacteria in an unopened can of formula matched a sample from a sick baby — and it also matched contamination detected in samples of organic whole milk powder used to make ByHeart formula and collected and tested by the company, officials said. 

FDA testing also found contamination in a sample of whole milk powder supplied to ByHeart — and it matched the germ in a finished sample of the company’s formula.

What they’re saying:

A ByHeart official said the finding helps shed light on what has become a “watershed moment” for the company.

“We are focused on the root cause and our responsibility to act on what we’ve learned to help create a safer future for ByHeart and infant formula,” said Dr. Devon Kuehn, ByHeart’s chief scientific and medical officer.

What we don’t know:

While these results advance the agency’s understanding of the outbreak, the FDA said the findings are not conclusive, and the investigation continues “to determine the source of the contamination.”

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95% of Measles Cases Classified as ‘Unvaccinated or Unknown,’ Obscuring Actual Vaccination Status: CDC Data

New data published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that 95% of U.S. measles cases in 2026 are classified as “Unvaccinated or Unknown.”

However, the agency’s own table makes clear that this figure does not mean 95% of cases occurred in confirmed unvaccinated individuals.

Instead, the CDC combines two fundamentally different categories—“unvaccinated” and “vaccination status unknown”—into a single percentage, preventing the public from knowing how many cases actually involved confirmed unvaccinated people.

The CDC does not disclose how much of the 95% figure represents:

  • individuals confirmed to be unvaccinated, versus
  • individuals whose vaccination records were unavailable, missing, or not verified

As a result, the public cannot determine whether most measles cases occurred in unvaccinated individuals or simply in individuals whose vaccination status was never established.

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Only 11 Diseases Now Covered by CDC’s Universal Childhood Vaccine Schedule, Down from 18

On Monday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) formally adopted a revised childhood and adolescent immunization schedule following a presidential directive from Donald Trump, marking the most significant rollback of universal childhood vaccine recommendations in modern U.S. history.

Under the revised schedule, only 11 diseases are now covered by vaccines recommended for all children.

COVID-19, influenza, hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, and meningococcal vaccines are no longer universally recommended and instead fall under shared clinical decision-making or high-risk categories.

The move raises a fundamental question about vaccination itself: how confidently can the safety and long-term benefit of any vaccine be trusted when the evidence supporting routine use remains subject to ongoing revision?

Vaccines have been linked to more than 2.7 million injuries, hospitalizations, and deaths since 1990.

The change follows a December Presidential Memorandum ordering the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC to examine childhood vaccination schedules used by peer developed nations and to revise U.S. policy if superior approaches existed abroad.

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CDC Sued for Pushing Illegal 72-Dose Childhood Vaccine Schedule

First reported by The Defender, a new federal lawsuit is challenging the CDC’s entire childhood vaccine program.

Filed by Dr. Paul Thomas, Dr. Kenneth P. Stoller, and Stand for Health Freedom, the lawsuit accuses the CDC of recommending 72+ vaccine doses for American children without ever testing the cumulative schedule for safety.

Both doctors previously paid a heavy price for questioning the hyper-vaccination program:

  • Dr. Thomas had his license suspended five days after publishing a vaccinated vs. unvaccinated study.
  • Dr. Stoller lost his license for granting exemptions based on genetic vulnerabilities.

What the Lawsuit Alleges

  • No safety testing: Neither the CDC nor FDA has ever studied the long-term, combined effects of the full childhood schedule — despite two decades of warnings from the Institute of Medicine (2002, 2013).
  • 27 years of silence: By law, HHS must file biennial reports to Congress on vaccine safety efforts. Not a single report has been issued since 1998.
  • Constitutional violations: The suit charges the CDC with violating the First Amendment (silencing dissenting doctors), the Fifth Amendment (due process & bodily integrity), and the Administrative Procedure Act (arbitrary and capricious rulemaking).

What Plaintiffs Seek

  • Reclassify all childhood vaccines to Category B — shifting to shared decision-making, which would make medical exemptions far easier to obtain.
  • Require rigorous safety studies comparing fully vaccinated vs. unvaccinated children before any return to a mandated schedule.
  • End retaliation against doctors — protecting physicians who issue exemptions based on individualized medical judgment.

If successful, this lawsuit wouldn’t just expose the unlawful CDC hyper-vaccination program — it would mark a major victory for families seeking vaccine exemptions and for physicians fighting to practice real individualized medicine.

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Infant dies after routine shots; mom warns ‘Don’t blindly follow the CDC schedule’

Four-month-old Josette “Josie” Petrone received six vaccines during a standard 4-month well visit on Aug. 19. Two days later, she was found unresponsive after an afternoon nap and later died at Nemours Children’s Hospital, where she remained on life support for three days. The official cause of death is still listed as pending, with state officials awaiting autopsy results. Her pediatrician filed a VAERS report.

Following the shots, her parents reported unusual irritability and refusal to nurse — symptoms not typical for her. On Aug. 21, a family nanny discovered the infant not breathing. Emergency responders restored a pulse, but she never regained consciousness.

The vaccines administered included the RSV monoclonal antibody shot along with DTaP, Hib, pneumococcal, rotavirus and polio vaccines.

In the days that followed, the family said they were surprised by how quickly officials pointed to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Josie’s father, a paramedic, questioned that conclusion and said the explanation was inconsistent with the physical findings.

“It doesn’t matter if Josie was found on her belly, her head was found to the side where her airway was unobstructed. There were no pillows nearby. There were no blankets.”
— Ryan Petrone

Petrone also said he was told the state rarely performs the specialized testing needed to determine whether vaccines contributed to a child’s death. According to him, officials indicated that the additional analysis is cost-prohibitive.

“It’s a funding thing. They should be trying to find out everything they can as the cause of death of a child. And the fact that they’re refusing to do that is just unreal to me.”
— Ryan Petrone

The parents are preserving tissue samples for an independent autopsy, which they plan to use in a National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program claim. They also noted research on PubMed showing a high percentage of SIDS cases occurring shortly after infant vaccinations — 58% within three days and 78.3% within seven days —and said the timeline surrounding Josie’s death raised serious questions for them.

The full CHD report includes additional details and the family’s on-camera interview.

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A VICTORY for informed consent: CDC panel reverses decades-old newborn vaccine policy

In a landmark decision that recalibrates the balance between public health mandates and individual medical choice, a key advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has moved to end a 34-year-old policy requiring virtually all newborns to be vaccinated against hepatitis B within their first day of life. On December 5, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8-3 to recommend that only infants born to mothers infected with hepatitis B, or whose status is unknown, should receive the shot shortly after birth. For the vast majority of babies born to hepatitis B-negative mothers, the committee now advises a model of “individual-based decision-making,” where parents and pediatricians weigh the very low risk of infection against the vaccine’s profile.

The end of a universal mandate built on adult compliance

The policy shift dismantles a cornerstone of the U.S. childhood immunization schedule that has been a source of tension and coercion for a generation of new parents. Since 1991, federal guidelines have directed hospitals to administer the hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns within 24 hours of birth, a practice that became a near-universal rite of passage in maternity wards. The historical justification, however, has long been questioned by health freedom advocates and some medical professionals. Hepatitis B is a blood-borne virus that is primarily transmitted through sexual contact, shared intravenous drug needles, or from an infected mother to her child during birth. For an infant born to a healthy mother, the immediate risk is virtually nonexistent.

Critics have argued the universal birth dose was less about infant health and more about ensuring population-wide vaccine coverage. As noted in past analyses, health officials in the early 1990s acknowledged that vaccinating reluctant adults was difficult, so targeting newborns became a strategy to ensure a vaccinated cohort. The ACIP’s reversal acknowledges this discrepancy, refocusing the intervention on those truly at risk: the fewer than 0.5% of U.S. infants born each year to hepatitis B-positive mothers.

Safety science under the microscope

The committee’s decision was heavily influenced by a rigorous re-examination of the vaccine’s safety science and the changing epidemiology of the disease. During the meeting, Dr. Tracy Beth Hoeg, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, delivered a striking critique of the original clinical trials that supported the vaccine’s licensure for newborns. She noted the trials had no control groups and followed infants for only five to seven days, a standard she stated would be unacceptable for modern approval.

“This is a historic moment of accountability,” said a health policy analyst who attended the meetings. “For decades, parents were told the science was settled, while the foundational trials were profoundly inadequate by today’s standards. The committee finally acknowledged that we cannot claim strong confidence in the risk-benefit profile based on that old data.”

A central safety concern has been the vaccine’s aluminum adjuvant, used to stimulate an immune response. The hepatitis B vaccine contains 250 micrograms of aluminum. According to longstanding FDA guidelines on parenteral (injected) aluminum exposure, the maximum safe limit is five micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. For an average eight-pound (3.6 kg) newborn, this equates to approximately 18 micrograms. The birth dose alone therefore administers over ten times this amount. While the body can excrete some aluminum, critics point to research suggesting the adjuvant can persist and contribute to systemic inflammation.

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Federal Vaccine Advisory Committee Votes to End Universal Hepatitis B Vaccine Recommendation for Babies

A federal advisory committee voted on Friday to end the universal hepatitis B vaccine recommendation for newborn babies – a decision which will now go to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director for final approval.

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the CDC’s vaccine advisers, determined in an 8-3 vote to narrow the recommendation. Instead of recommending the shot for all newborn babies, the advisory board is opting to recommend it only for newborns whose mothers test positive for the virus. “Women whose hepatitis B status is negative or unknown should talk with their doctors about vaccination, the recommendation says,” according to NPR.

“If you are a baby that was born to a mother that was tested negative for Hep B, you need to realize, as a parent, that your risk of infection throughout your early stage of life and probably throughout most of your childhood, is extremely low to the extent that it’s even hard to quantify how low. It is, it’s probably one in several millions [sic],” Professor Retsef Levi – a member of the ACIP – said in a clip shared by the CDC.

“And that means that, as a parent, we encourage you, in consultation with your physician, to think very carefully. Do you want to expose your child, your baby, to an intervention that could have some potential harms when the risk is so low?” he asked. “And mind you that we are talking about a very, very young baby in the first few months of their life, where they are not fully developed.”

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CDC Contractor Exposes What Really Drove the Dramatic Drop in Hepatitis B Cases — Hint: It Wasn’t the Vaccine

A very important meeting is underway as ACIP, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, decides whether the Hepatitis B vaccine — recommended for all newborns since 1991 — should continue to be given in the first days of life or whether that decision should ultimately be left to parents.

As of today, Hepatitis B vaccination is required for public school attendance in nearly every state in the United States. If ACIP votes to end the universal birth-dose recommendation and limit it only to infants born to mothers who test positive for hepatitis B, that long-standing school mandate could be displaced to uncertain ground, since most states base their school requirements on ACIP recommendations.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection primarily transmitted through blood and bodily fluids, most commonly through sexual contact, needle sharing, or exposure during birth. Mothers are routinely tested during pregnancy to determine whether they are hepatitis B positive and at risk of transmitting the virus to their baby. And with only about 0.5% of births involving a mother who tests positive, it continues to raise questions about why the vaccine is recommended for every child on the first day of life.

Also, because newborns don’t engage in sexual activity or needle sharing, the universal vaccination recommendation has puzzled many parents for decades, who wonder why a sexually transmitted or bloodborne illness requires immunization at birth.

Many questions about the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine have been raised by figures such as Robert Kennedy Jr., Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Dr. Casey Means, and countless concerned parents.

But one CDC contractor, Dr. Cynthia Nevison, walked into the ACIP meeting and raised another critical question: has universal Hepatitis B vaccination, after 34 long years, even lowered Hepatitis B cases on a population level? Dr. Nevison’s answer to that question might surprise you.

And if not the vaccine, why did Hepatitis B cases plummet after 1991? Dr. Nevison addressed that question, too.

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The Daily Beast Quietly Admits the Real Reason RFK Jr.’s Ex-CDC Director Was Fired

The Daily Beast just quietly confirmed a “conspiracy theory” about why RFK Jr.’s ex-CDC director was fired.

“Susan Monarez, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked CDC appointee, was privately assuring health officials that she would reverse her own boss’s directives, according to agency staffers,” the outlet wrote.

This theory was previously mocked as “baseless” and “unfounded,” but now leftist outlets confirm it to be true.

Monarez was actively working against RFK Jr. and made promises to “make changes” to appease CDC staff who were not aligned with RFK Jr.

“Please wait… When I come, I will make changes,” Monarez reportedly promised CDC’s former chief medical officer, Debra Houry, urging her not to resign.

“Monarez has said that Kennedy then issued her an ultimatum: obey or resign. Just 29 days after her Senate confirmation, she was ousted. Houry quickly followed her out the door,” The Daily Beast reported.

Read the full story here.

Monarez also believed COVID vaccines were medically indicated in children — a belief that is aging worse than rotten milk after a leaked FDA memo confirmed at least 10 children died from the shots.

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