American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Recent pediatric Covid-19 vaccine recommendationsOpens in a new tab or windowunlike the CDC’s, raising concerns from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded with oblique warnings to doctors who may follow AAP advice.
“AAP… Recommendations that branch off the CDC’s official list should be open in doctors and hospitals that they are not protected from liability under the Vaccine Injury Act of 1986,” Kennedy said. Posted this week on xOpens in a new tab or window.
AAP RecommendationsOpens in a new tab or windowreleased on Tuesday and included strong approvals for Covid-19 shots for children between six months and under two years. The group also recommended covid shots for older children if parents wanted to do that. These recommendations are different Guidance issued by the CDCOpens in a new tab or windowsaid the vaccine is not specifically recommended for children if parents and health care providers agree.
Was Kennedy right about the issue of responsibility? “This is misleading, as has become common for Secretary Kennedy,” said Dr. Dorit Rice, a law professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Facebook PostsOpens in a new tab or window on wednesday. “Whether the vaccine falls under VICP [the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the part of the Vaccine Injury Act that deals with liability issues] It has nothing to do with whether AAP recommends it or not. This will not remove liability protection. ”
“If the vaccine is covered by VICP, liability protection applies to manufacturers and managers. Anyone who claims harm to a vaccine from a childhood vaccine under VICP must pass the program first,” she said. “ACIP has not actually changed its current recommendations in a way that affects VICP.” Furthermore, “While no Covid-19 vaccine for children is under VICP, it is not what AAP did or what the secretary did, because it is not yet law for Congress to create an excise tax on Covid-19 vaccines.
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Dr. Anna Kirkland, Dr. JD, and professor of health care and policy at Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan agreed to Reiss that the Covid vaccine will not be affected by the CDC’s new recommendations as it will not fit within the VICP. However, “If Kennedy plans to withdraw recommendations from other pediatric vaccines currently covered under the Vaccine Injury Act, it could suggest future changes, meaning it will no longer meet the statutory definition of compensation program coverage,” she said in an email.
“This development should not change the willingness of physicians to recommend pediatric vaccines. Pediatric vaccines still have all the safety and compensation protections before Kennedy takes office,” she added. “It seems there is Changes in vaccine injury compensation programsOpens in a new tab or window Along the way, it is difficult to know exactly what he planned from Kennedy’s statement. Remove childhood vaccines from compensation programs can boost the vaccine market and leave a small number of people who have suffered side effects without a plausible pathway to compensation. ”
In her Facebook post, Reiss told readers, ” [his] An implicit threat, Secretary Kennedy said, “We will not file a lawsuit in court related to a vaccine injury. Instead, parents who think their child has harmed the Covid-19 vaccine are relevant here.”
If Kennedy wants to remove another vaccine from VICP, she said, “As , rather than saying that ACIP must be administered after a shared decision between parents and providers, “ACIP will have to fully recommend it to children and pregnant women.” “And then,” she added, “the secretary will have to open the rules-making process — Federal Registerseeks comment and publishes the final decision. And they could sue the company that made the vaccine, or someone else, that they denied the vaccine to remove liability protection. ”
In his tweet, Kennedy called the AAP recommendation “corporate-friendly” and said, “The Trump administration believes in freedom of speech and that AAP has the right to assert Americans. Pediatrics – Americans can ask whether AAP recommendations reflect public health benefits or perhaps it is merely a pay and play scheme to promote the commercial ambitions of AAP’s big pharmaceutical benefactors. ”
AAP is back. “This attack on the pediatrician integrity is unfortunate, but it will not change the facts,” AAP President Susan Kressly, MD, said in a statement sent to. Today’s Med Page“Vaccination recommendations are rooted in decades of peer-reviewed science by leading health experts across the country. We are transparent about our funders, followed strict conflict of interest disclosures, maintain safeguards, and ensure integrity and independence.
The final sentence of the AAP statement mentioned some changes Kennedy made in vaccine policy decisions at the CDC. June, he All 17 members were firedOpens in a new tab or window CDC Advisory Committee on Vaccination Practices (ACIP) – This advises the CDC on vaccination recommendations – and I replaced them with 8 peopleOpens in a new tab or windowIncludes known vaccine skeptics. Some of the new members reportedly have unique conflicts of interest related to serving as expert witnesses in legal proceedings targeting vaccine manufacturers.
Additionally, AAP, the American Medical Association, and other health care groups I was told at the end of JulyOpens in a new tab or window You will no longer be able to join the ACIP workgroup and will be invited between ACIP meetings to create recommended ACIP options.
