Congress

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn’t shading his big plans for the country’s vaccine safety system anymore.

The health secretary and longtime vaccine skeptic pledged during his Senate confirmation earlier this year to leave that alone. But at a House health panel hearing Tuesday, Kennedy said there was ample reason to worry some vaccines aren’t safe and gave no ground to Democrats who pointed out that most scientists and public health experts vehemently disagree.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) on Tuesday tore into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for his decades of lies about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, saying she will blame him every time someone dies from a vaccine-preventable disease on his watch.

“You have lied to the American people,” Schrier, who is a pediatrician, charged as Kennedy sat silently before a House committee. “You have lied to parents about vaccines for 20 years.”

Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) accused Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of lying to Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) when he told the senator he would maintain a key federal vaccine advisory committee “without changes.”

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparred with Democrats throughout a House budget hearing Thursday, with members accusing Kennedy of lying about changes to vaccine oversight, and Kennedy accusing lawmakers of being influenced by campaign contributions from Big Pharma.

A leading Senate Republican on U.S. health policy says a vaccine advisory panel overhauled by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should delay a looming meeting amid questions about experience and potential bias of some newly-appointed members.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives praised and denounced the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) plans to Make America Healthy Again.

Rep. Kim Schrier, MD (D-Wash.), tore into HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday, accusing him of lying and arguing that he broke a promise not to change the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

During an HHS budget hearing of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, Schrier, a pediatrician, asked Kennedy if he had ever treated measles, bacterial meningitis, pertussis, or whooping cough (Kennedy said he had not).

Democratic leaders assert the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) remains vital for emergency care, countering confusion from recent policy changes affecting abortion rights and patient safety.