Dozens of Democrats call for removal of newly appointed OB-GYNs from vaccine advisory panel
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers are calling for the removal of two OB-GYNs who were recently appointed to the nation’s top vaccine advisory committee, citing the doctors’ “well-documented history” of anti-vaccine ideology.
The lawmakers said in a Thursday letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that they were concerned about the Jan. 13 appointments of Dr. Adam Urato and Dr. Kimberly Biss to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Urato is an OB-GYN specializing in maternal-fetal medicine, and Biss is an OB-GYN from St. Petersburg, Fla.
The letter cited comments made by Biss, a self-described “anti-vaxxer,” during a congressional hearing in 2023 in which she claimed the COVID-19 vaccine increased the risk of miscarriages in pregnant women. Studies have found no scientific link between the two.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists continues to recommend that pregnant women be vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive boosters, asserting it is safe and there is no evidence of adverse maternal or fetal effects from using it.
Evidence has shown, however, that severe COVID-19 infections can have negative impacts on pregnancy, ranging from an increased risk of complications in patients with underlying health conditions to preterm delivery.
The lawmakers noted that the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rate of any developed nation, a trend that was exacerbated by the pandemic. Maternal mortality reached a peak of 33.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in February 2022, according to CDC data.
“All of our public health professionals should be working to decrease these harrowing statistics,” they wrote to Kennedy.
“Yet, the Trump administration and the Department of Health and Human Services under your leadership continues to politicize routine vaccinations, sowing doubt in patients and jeopardizing the health of our nation,” they continued.
The letter did not directly reference any anti-vaccine rhetoric from Urato, though he stated in a post on the social platform X last year: “The science is not ‘long-settled’ regarding vaccines.” He is also a known skeptic of women using antidepressants while pregnant.
“We are deeply concerned that the addition of Dr. Urato and Dr. Biss to ACIP do not make pregnant women and their children healthier. Instead, their false, harmful ideologies put women and their children’s lives at risk,” the lawmakers wrote.
“The opinions of Dr. Urato and Dr. Biss are not founded in evidence-based science, but in anti-vaccine rhetoric that harms public health as a whole,” they continued.
The group also urged Kennedy to reinstate the 17 members he fired from ACIP last year, whom he replaced with a handpicked panel as part of an effort to overhaul U.S. vaccine policy.
“What was once a trusted panel of vaccine experts has become a hand-selected group of unqualified vaccine skeptics who have undermined years of scientific integrity and vetted public health practices,” the letter stated.
Democratic Reps. Suzan DelBene (Wash.), Kim Schrier (Wash.), Brad Schneider (Ill.) and Kelly Morrison (Minn.) led the letter, which 40 other House Democrats signed.