{"id":12305,"date":"2025-06-12T14:48:17","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T19:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/?post_type=jtf_topics&#038;p=12305"},"modified":"2025-06-26T14:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T19:51:19","slug":"was-acip-riddled-with-conflicts-of-interest","status":"publish","type":"jtf_topics","link":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/jtf_topics\/was-acip-riddled-with-conflicts-of-interest\/","title":{"rendered":"Was ACIP riddled with conflicts of interest?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row source=&#8221;&#8221; text=&#8221;Clinical Trials&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h2|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221; google_fonts=&#8221;font_family:Abril%20Fatface%3Aregular|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal&#8221; link=&#8221;&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1708910874436{border-top-width: 1px !important;border-right-width: 1px !important;border-bottom-width: 1px !important;border-left-width: 1px !important;}&#8221;][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;The Claim:&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]In a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecKennedy\/status\/1932192142748795114\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>\u00a0via the Wall Street Journal, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. announced a reset of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, retiring its 17 members immediately. He claimed that this reset would clear the conflicts of interest the members had and restore trust in vaccine science.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=&#8221;The Facts:&#8221; font_container=&#8221;tag:h3|text_align:left&#8221; use_theme_fonts=&#8221;yes&#8221;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]The\u202f<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/acip\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Advisory Committee on Immunization\u202fPractices<\/a>, or ACIP, is a team of independent vaccine experts who meet at the CDC. Once a new vaccine is licensed by the FDA, ACIP reviews all the data and provides guidance on how a vaccine should be used.\u202fTheir advice is what ultimately lands a vaccine on the schedule your provider uses to make sure you are up-to-date and protected.<\/p>\n<p>ACIP\u2019s voting members are mostly pediatricians, epidemiologists, and infectious disease doctors. One seat is set aside for a consumer advocate. They apply through an open process run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Dozens of nonvoting liaisons from medical societies and federal agencies also sit in, which keeps the conversation broad and transparent.<\/p>\n<p>The ACIP\u00a0already operates under some of the strictest\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/acip\/downloads\/ACIP-conflicts-interest-policy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflict\u2011of\u2011interest rules<\/a>\u00a0in the federal government, and\u00a0ACIP\u2019s charter forbids anyone with more than a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/government-entities\/federal-state-local-governments\/de-minimis-fringe-benefits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">de\u202fminimis industry interest<\/a>\u00a0from voting on products made by that company.\u00a0Members serve as\u202fSpecial Government Employees, must file public financial\u2011disclosure forms, and are required at every meeting to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/acip\/disclosures\/by-member.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">declare<\/a>\u2014and, when necessary, recuse themselves for\u2014any relevant ties. Meeting minutes, member disclosures, and all supporting materials are posted online, and every session is webcast with time for open public comment. These safeguards were put in place precisely to keep vaccine policy transparent and insulated from commercial pressure.<\/p>\n<p>RFK Jr. himself was required to resolve his own\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.warren.senate.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/warren-wyden-press-rfk-jr-to-resolve-conflicts-of-interest-ahead-of-committee-vote\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">conflicts of interest<\/a>\u00a0regarding an agreement with the law firm WisnerBaum, under which he receives 10% of the funds awarded in referred vaccine litigation\u00a0cases.<\/p>\n<p>By abruptly firing every voting member, no conflicts were cleared. A well\u2011vetted process was interrupted,\u00a0removing\u00a0years of collective expertise, and creating a political opening for\u00a0advisors whose own views and financial ties have not yet been probed.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RFK Jr. disbands ACIP over alleged conflicts of interest\u2014but ACIP already follows strict transparency rules. Here&#8217;s what the public needs to know about vaccine oversight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"parent":0,"template":"","jtf_topic_subjects":[218],"class_list":["post-12305","jtf_topics","type-jtf_topics","status-publish","hentry","jtf_topic_subjects-vaccine-safety","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/12305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/jtf_topics"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/12305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12308,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topics\/12305\/revisions\/12308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"jtf_topic_subjects","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.voicesforvaccines.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jtf_topic_subjects?post=12305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}