Below are the citation, extracts of a perspective article in MedPageToday, plus a comment from me.
CITATION: Trusted Vaccine Guidance Has Collapsed — Along With the Rule of Law
— Government independence, transparency, and legal integrity must be restored
by Richard Hughes IV, JD, MPH, and Lawrence O. Gostin, JD
https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/the-health-docket/117788
EXTRACTS
At first glance, the recent meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) might have appeared routine -- experts weighing evidence and updating the nation's vaccine schedule. But what unfolded was anything but routine. It was rushed, politicized, and destructive to the credibility of America's most important public health institution.
In a single session, ACIP recommended dismantling several long-standing immunological protections. The panel advised against giving infants a single combined shot against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella (MMRV). Older adults -- one of the populations most vulnerable to severe COVID-19 -- saw clear recommendations replaced with vague "shared clinical decision-making."
These shifts are not just public health blunders. They are the product of a legally compromised process that betrays both the letter and spirit of laws designed to prevent exactly this kind of arbitrary decision-making.
ACIP was once the gold standard -- rigorous, independent, and trusted across the political spectrum. That excellence has been abandoned. The rule of law demands better. So do the American people. Unless independence, transparency, and legal integrity are restored, America's vaccine defenses will continue to unravel -- and lives will be the price.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Richard Hughes IV, JD, MPH, is an attorney and advisor in the biopharma sector, with a particular focus on vaccines. He was vice president of public policy at Moderna during the COVID-19 pandemic and teaches vaccine law at George Washington University. Lawrence O. Gostin, JD, is Distinguished University Professor, Georgetown University's highest academic rank, where he was founding director of the O'Neill Institute. He is also director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on National & Global Health Law. He is the author of the book, Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future.
COMMENT (NPW): Th= collapse of trusted vaccine guidance will not only lead to loss of trust in vaccines - it will lead to progressive loss of trust in the ACIP, CDC, and all other national institutions that were previously held (by some at least) to be reliable providers of information on health. This leaves a gaping hole in public health communication.
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org