Physician organizations are applauding a Massachusetts federal judge’s finding that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr acted illegally in appointing the bulk of the current CDC vaccine advisers and in unilaterally changing the childhood immunization schedule.

A number of medical societies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), sued HHS in July 2025, alleging that Kennedy had unlawfully ordered the CDC to stop recommending that pregnant women and healthy children receive the COVID vaccine. The suit was updated multiple times, most recently seeking to stop the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Vaccine Practices (ACIP) from meeting and to overturn Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill’s unilateral overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule. 

US District Court Judge Brian Murphy in his March 16 opinion largely agreed with the AAP and co-plaintiffs. He wrote that 13 of the 15 ACIP members “appear distinctly unqualified,” and said he was temporarily putting their appointments on hold. That meant the ACIP could not meet on March 18 and 19, as scheduled. 

The judge also temporarily blocked the January vaccine schedule change and all votes taken by the new panel. He found that O’Neill “lacked authority to issue the January 2026 Memo and, in so doing, acted contrary to law.”

The AAP said the judge’s ruling vindicated its position that established protocol and scientific evidence had been ignored. “This decision effectively means that a science-based process for developing immunization recommendations is not to be trifled with and represents a critical step to restoring scientific decision-making to federal vaccine policy that has kept children healthy for years,” said AAP President Andrew Racine, MD, PhD, in a statement.

Racine said the administration’s vaccine changes “have sown chaos and confusion for parents and pediatricians,” which led the AAP to issue its own vaccine schedule. “In the wake of today’s decision, one thing remains clear: parents can continue to turn to the AAP’s childhood vaccine recommendations and talk with their pediatrician about how to best protect their children’s health,” he said.

“Today’s ruling is a win for public health and reaffirms that national vaccine policy should be guided by rigorous, evidence-based science, not politics,” said Jason M. Goldman, MD, president of the American College of Physicians, in a joint statement with several other co-plaintiffs. Goldman said that the hope was that the ruling “will mean a return to a transparent and evidence-driven process that safeguards the health of all communities and the best interests of our patients.” 

American Public Health Association CEO Georges C. Benjamin, MD, said in that statement that, “Trust occurs when we engage the public in a transparent process, not one where decisions are made behind closed doors by unqualified individuals and presented in a disingenuous way.”

The American Medical Association (AMA), which filed a friend of the court brief, also applauded the judge’s ruling. “Vaccines are one of the safest and most effective tools in medicine, and strong, science-based immunization policies save lives,” said AMA Board Chair David H. Aizuss, MD, in a statement.

Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, who had introduced legislation to reverse the vaccine schedule changes, welcomed the ruling. “RFK Jr.’s attempts to gut the childhood vaccine schedule were not based on science,” she said, in a statement. “This was a unilateral decision that put millions at risk of preventable diseases,” she said. “What HHS did was unlawful and the federal court agreed.”

HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said, “We look forward to this judge’s decision being overturned just like his other attempts to keep the Trump administration from governing.”

Even if HHS does not appeal, it could appoint new ACIP members. Two were appointed after the suit was filed and aren’t covered by Murphy’s ruling. But neither of those two have the relevant vaccine experience that Murphy said was essential to legally participating on ACIP.

He wrote that of the 15 current members, “at least six appear to lack any expertise or

professional qualifications related to vaccines or immunization as required by ACIP’s Charter.” Another three “have some experience arguably relevant to ACIP’s function,” wrote Murphy, but he added that they “appear to lack the qualifications and experience to constitute expertise in vaccines and immunization.”

Alicia Ault is a Saint Petersburg, Florida-based freelance journalist whose work has appeared in many health and science publications, including Smithsonian.com. You can find her on X @aliciaault and on Bluesky @aliciaault.bsky.social.