Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ignored decades of scientific evidence and tore up a science-based childhood vaccine schedule that will leave more children sick, hospitalized, or worse, a new lawsuit charges.
During the 2024-25 flu season, 289 children died from the flu, the highest number since reporting began outside of the 2009 pandemic. Nearly half had no underlying medical conditions, and 89 percent of those whose vaccination status was known were not fully vaccinated.
RSV is the leading cause of hospitalization for infants in the U.S., sending up to 80,000 young children to the hospital each year.
Researchers estimate that delaying the first hepatitis B dose by just two months could cause at least 1,400 new childhood infections every year, and could lead to nearly 300 cases of liver cancer and 480 hepatitis B-related deaths over time.
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New York Attorney General Letitia James said today (Oct. 5) New York has joined 15 other states in a lawsuit against Kennedy in his capacity as U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary.
In January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under his direction, stopped recommending seven vaccines for all children, including shots that protect against hepatitis B, influenza, RSV, and meningitis.
The new schedule ignored decades of scientific evidence, cut out the experts and public input required by law, the suit charges.
In June a year ago, Kennedy abruptly fire all 17 voting members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a panel made up of experts that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades.
He replace them with his own cronies who lack the necessary expertise or qualifications, without following the required vetting process, the coalition states.
Before the new members were even seated, Kennedy asked that their agenda include weakening the hepatitis B recommendation for healthy children, according to Internal HHS emails.
In December 2025, the new panel voted to end the recommendation that all babies receive a hepatitis B vaccination dose at birth, a recommendation that had been in place since 1991, even as members acknowledged there was no evidence the birth dose causes harm.
Then-acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill, who has no medical or scientific training, signed off on the new schedule the same day without expert review, public notice, or opportunity for comment.
“For decades, these vaccines have kept millions of children out of the hospital and saved countless lives,” said James in a statement.
“Families deserve guidance grounded in science, and these abrupt changes put children’s health at risk.”
“Kennedy has long been a prominent anti-vaccine activist and has significantly contributed to eroding trust in safe and effective vaccines,” the group states. “His views have proven to have zero basis in science and risk making the country less healthy.”
Among children born in the U.S. between 1994 and 2023, researchers estimate that routine childhood vaccinations prevented about 508 million cases of illness, 32 million hospitalizations, and over 1.1 million deaths, generating $2.7 trillion in societal savings.
The updated Kennedy schedule removed vaccines against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and RSV from the list of vaccinations recommended for every child.
Most were moved to a category called “shared clinical decision-making,” which was historically reserved for rare cases where science was genuinely uncertain.
For more than 100 million Americans without regular access to a primary care provider, the new vaccine schedule creates yet another barrier to protecting their children.
The states argue that the Trump administration changes are arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
They are asking the court to declare the new vaccine schedule unlawful, to throw out Kennedy’s appointments to ACIP, and reverse the committee’s hepatitis B decision.
Joining Attorney General James in this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania.
Keith Girard has four decades of experience as an award-winning reporter, editor-in-chief, and senior media executive. Keith’s career began in Washington, D.C., where he was a reporter for The Washington Post and a contributing editor for Regardie’s and Washingtonian magazines. He also worked as a writer/producer in CNN’s Washington Bureau and has written non-fiction books on the U.S. Marines in the Gulf War and Donald Trump and two novels, “The Heidelberg Conundrum” and “The Curse of Northam Bay.”