Richard H. Hughes, IV, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in Inside Health Policy, in “RFK Jr. Could Reshape Vaccine Injury Program, Add Autism,” by Luke Zarzecki. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
If confirmed as HHS secretary, vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would have significant power to reshape the federal government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), legal experts said, and could add new injuries to the list of those eligible for compensation, like autism, even if scientific advisors say there is no credible evidence of a link to vaccination. …
Richard Hughes, a health lawyer at Epstein, Becker and Green, told Inside Health Policy an HHS secretary has a lot of flexibility when it comes to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which makes recommendations on the use of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
"He has a lot of authority to convene or not convene that body, to renew its charter or decline to renew its charter. He is allowed to dismiss members of that committee. He could completely disband it. He could replace the committee members with people who hold anti-vaccine views, alternative views on the use of vaccines, and I will say that many, many things are tied to the decision making of ACIP," Hughes said.
