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 Tradeoffs, in “The Powerful Vaccine Committee RFK Jr. Could Soon Control,” by Melanie Evans.
Following is an excerpt:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long criticized an obscure and powerful federal vaccine committee. If senators confirm him to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, he would control it.
Kenndy is scheduled to meet with senators this week for confirmation hearings, where his vaccine views are expected to come under scrutiny.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices — an influential group of clinicians and scientists — recommends who should get vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation’s public health agency.
ACIP widely shapes public health practices, pharmaceutical development and how doctors treat patients. ACIP makes recommendations to the CDC, which almost always endorses the committee’s decisions.
“It is the most important policy making body with respect to vaccines in the United States,” said attorney Richard Hughes IV, who teaches at George Washington University and advises vaccine manufacturers.
