Major Victory for Patients and Public Health as Federal Judge Blocks HHS Secretary Kennedy’s Vaccine Changes

03.16.2026 /Statement

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In response to today's decision in federal court to grant a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit American Academy of Pediatrics vs. Kennedy, Anthony Wright, Executive Director of Families USA, the national nonpartisan health consumer advocacy organization, issued the following statement. The decision halts several recent vaccine changes made by the revamped vaccine advisory panel while the case proceeds.

"When politics override science, our children pay the price. Today's decision helps ensure that medical evidence - not ideology - guides how we protect kids from preventable diseases. With this decision, patient and consumer advocates will continue to advocate for clear, evidence-based advice and access to key vaccines, fully covered without cost-sharing or other barriers.

Secretary Kennedy's attempt to remove universal recommendations for routine vaccinations only increased confusion among medical providers and families. The routine vaccines being questioned by HHS are the product of centuries of rigorous science and medicine and are why children today don't die from measles or suffer the lifelong consequences of diseases we long ago learned to prevent. For a country as large, diverse, and mobile as ours, universal vaccine recommendations are the safest and most effective way to stop outbreaks before they start.

We commend the court for this ruling, but families should not have to depend on litigation to ensure their child can receive a routine vaccine. Evidence-based medicine keeps children alive and in school. Preventing disease should be the foundation of any health care system serious about confronting the next disease outbreak or finding the next cure.

The courts can only do so much without Congress, which must fulfill its oversight responsibility and rein in an executive branch that is taking an axe to core public health protections. Transparency and scientific integrity are not optional, especially when children's lives are at stake. Families deserve vaccine policy grounded in evidence and expert guidance - not ideology or personal bias - with the goal of making sure every child in America can grow up healthy."