RFK Jr. names five latest CDC vaccine committee members

A version of this text first appeared in CNBC’s Healthy Returns newsletter, which brings the most recent health-care news straight to your inbox. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday added five latest members to a key government vaccine panel that he purged in June. 

The move comes before a critical meeting of the committee, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The panel will review data and make recommendations on vaccines for Covid-19 and Hepatitis B, in addition to the measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella shot, ahead of the autumn and winter season. 

So, who’re the brand new advisors? They include an infectious disease expert who has pushed back on Covid mandates, akin to vaccine requirements, mandates and one other member who has advocated for unproven treatments for that virus, including ivermectin.

“There’s some evidence to definitely suggest that a number of the members have based their opinions on questionable scientific information or have misinterpreted the outcomes of scientific studies,” Neil Maniar, a public health professor at Northeastern University, told CNBC. 

That is no surprise: The seven members Kennedy appointed to ACIP earlier this 12 months included some widely known vaccine critics. Kennedy maintains that gutting the last committee was essential to revive public trust in immunizations. 

However the panel has traditionally consisted of independent medical and public health experts “who depend on the gold standard of best scientific evidence,” Maniar said. He called it “concerning that we’re moving in a really different direction with a committee that plays a vital role by way of immunization policy and coverage” within the U.S. 

ACIP routinely reviews vaccine data and makes recommendations to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that determine who’s eligible for shots and whether insurers should cover them, amongst other efforts. 

Here’s what to know concerning the five latest members: 

• Kirk Milhoan is a pediatric cardiologist at Driscoll Kid’s Hospital in Texas. HHS in a release said he “holds a Ph.D. within the mechanisms of myocardial inflammation.” He’s a senior fellow on the Independent Medical Alliance, a bunch formed in 2020 that has been fighting to restrict using mRNA Covid vaccines for pregnant women and kids and has advocated for unproven Covid treatments. Milhoan’s bio on the group’s website says he is devoted to treating patients with “vaccine-related cardiovascular toxicity as a result of the spike protein.” At a 2024 panel on vaccine injuries convened by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican and vocal Covid shot skeptic, Milhoan claimed those vaccines pose more harm than good. 
• Hillary Blackburn is a pharmacist and director of medication access and affordability on the Catholic health system, Ascension. She is the daughter-in-law of Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.
• Evelyn Griffin is an obstetrician and gynecologist based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. HHS said “she was among the many first robotic-assisted gynecologic surgeons within the U.S. and has led efforts to scale back maternal morbidity and mortality.” In line with local reports, she has spoken against Louisiana’s decision so as to add Covid shots to the college immunization schedule and has testified about hostile reactions from vaccines. 
• Raymond Pollak is a transplant surgeon in Illinois. In 1999, Pollak was a whistleblower in a suit against the University of Illinois Hospital alleging that the hospital admitted patients for liver transplants after they weren’t medically essential. HHS said he’s published greater than 120 peer-reviewed articles and been a principal investigator on National Institutes of Health transplant biology grants and various drug trials. Pollak’s views on vaccines are unclear.
• Catherine Stein, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. HHS said she has published 115 peer-reviewed articles, and her research has focused on tuberculosis and infectious diseases. Stein has been openly critical of the U.S.’s response to Covid and has downplayed the severity of the pandemic. She told Ohio lawmakers that health officials were inflating Covid death and hospitalization numbers, in keeping with Ohio Capital Journal. 

We’ll be covering the ACIP meeting this week with the brand new members, so stay tuned for our coverage. 

Be happy to send any suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at a brand new email: annika.constantino@versantmedia.com.

That is Ashley, coming to you with some bittersweet news this week. 

As of Monday, I officially began a brand new role at CNBC as our AI reporter! I will be covering the key AI labs, including OpenAI and Anthropic, for our site. There is definitely no shortage of stories to dig into, and I’m excited to start.

But since my coverage scope is changing quite a bit, sadly which means that is my last week as an everyday contributor to the Healthy Returns newsletter. It has been so fun to attach with readers through this format, and I’ll miss writing it each week.

Luckily, there’s tons of overlap between AI and health care at once, so I’ll still be covering the sector through that lens. You will still see my byline within the newsletter infrequently, too. 

I’m not going far, so please stay in contact. You’ll be able to send me suggestions and story ideas at ashley.capoot@versantmedia.com. 

UnitedHealth Group CEO Stephen Hemsley appears to be taking a page from that playbook.

Be happy to send any suggestions, suggestions, story ideas and data to Bertha at a brand new email: bertha.coombs@versantmedia.com.