Under pressure, RFK Jr. brings back childhood vaccine safety committee

By Brett Rowland
The Center Square

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Thursday the reinstatement of the Task Force on Safer Childhood Vaccines, the day before he had to respond to a lawsuit over his alleged failure to stand up the task force.

Health and Human Services said Congress created the federal panel to improve the safety, quality and oversight of vaccines administered to American children.

“By reinstating this Task Force, we are reaffirming our commitment to rigorous science, continuous improvement, and the trust of American families,” National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya said. “NIH is proud to lead this effort to advance vaccine safety and support innovation that protects children without compromise.”

The original task force was disbanded in 1998.

Ray Flores, an attorney, filed the lawsuit in May alleging that Kennedy was violating the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. That law requires the HHS secretary to create a task force that includes the director of the National Institutes of Health, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The law also requires the HHS secretary to provide Congress with progress reports every two years.

That never happened, according to Flores’ lawsuit.

Kennedy, for years, sought the same records. Kennedy sued the government for records in 2018 related to the task force prior to running for president as an independent. Kennedy later dismissed the case after HHS said it couldn’t find reports submitted to Congress.

Kennedy dropped his presidential bid before the election and campaigned for President Donald Trump. Trump later picked Kennedy to lead the Health and Human Services department.

Flores alleged in his lawsuit that Kennedy had not created such a task force since taking office and that the federal government has failed to follow a law passed by Congress for decades.

“In over 35 years, all ten of Secretary Kennedy’s predecessors failed to report to Congress the steps taken towards making safety improvements in childhood vaccines as required by the [19]86 Act,” Flores wrote in the initial suit. “Over 100 days have passed since President Trump formed the Make America Healthy Again Commission chaired by Secretary Kennedy, and no statutorily required Task Force on childhood vaccine safety has been established. Therefore, any grace period for Mr. Kennedy to rectify the failure of his predecessors has ended.”

Flores’ lawsuit sought to compel Kennedy to create a task force and submit reports required by law. It did not request damages.

Flores told The Center Square on Thursday that he expects to ask a judge to dismiss the case on Friday without prejudice “provided the terms are agreeable.”