The Medical Association, representing hundreds of thousands of American doctors, medical professionals and scientists, is suing leaders of US health agencies to get the Covid-19 vaccine and undermine the trust of the overall vaccine.
The lawsuit filed Monday in the Massachusetts U.S. District Court was brought by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association, the American Infectious Diseases Association, and the Massachusetts Public Health Association D/B/A. vaccine.
“Our clients are not litigation organizations. They don’t want to be in court. Certainly, I don’t like being in a position to sue the Secretary of Health and Human Services, our country’s chief health officer. So I don’t think this is what they want to participate, but I think it’s necessary, but I think it’s necessary.”
The group is suing US Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US Food and Drug Director Drug Drug Drug Drug Drug Drug Dr. Jay Batacharya, Director of the National Institutes of Health, and Dr. Matthew Buzzelli, Chief of Staff at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“This step is not something we should underestimate,” Dr. Susan Cresley, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said at a press conference Monday. “This isn’t something I wanted to take at all, but I can’t wait for government officials to sort it out. Pediatricians will be turned down the systems they rely on to support a life-saving vaccine.
HHS did not respond to requests for comment regarding CNN’s lawsuit.
In May, Kennedy took the very unusual step in a social media video that would stop the Covid-19 vaccine being recommended for pregnant people and healthy children on the CDC vaccination schedule.
Experts quickly warned that these changes could create new barriers to vaccines for those who want them, including confusion about eligible patients and higher costs, if insurance no longer covers them.
With a long history of anti-vaccine behavior, Kennedy fired 17 members of the CDC’s advisory committee on vaccination practices and replaced them with seven new members. Committee members will serve as external experts to help the CDC make informed decisions about vaccines.
At the first meeting of the newly appointed committee last month, its chairman said it would study established vaccines and guidelines, childhood and adolescent vaccination schedules, as well as vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella and chicken po.
The lawsuit alleges that Kennedy and the Trump administration acted “arbitrarly and on a whim” basis by changing Covid-19 vaccine recommendations. The lawsuit seeks a preliminary and permanent injunction that prohibits or legally prohibits changes to Kennedy’s COVID vaccine recommendations and declarative rulings declaring changes to recommendations illegal.
Dr. Sindhu Srinivas, president of the Association for Maternal and Fetal Medicine, said decisions regarding COVID vaccines are dangerous to patients. Pregnancy is on the list of CDC conditions that can increase the risk of severe illness.
“The federal directive does not have any evidence of obstetric or infectious diseases,” Srinivas said. “Maternal vaccination is truly the best way to do it, not just from maternal, fetal and infant complications, especially Covid-19, but also from other diseases and other infectious diseases.”
Creslie of the American Academy of Pediatrics said that while the vaccination system is the foundation of public health in the United States, she and several members of her association are wary of recent actions by the HHS to change the routine childhood vaccination schedule. She said the movement “Risk its success” makes children and communities more vulnerable to infections.
Kressly cited many cases of measles this year as examples. In 2025, there have been more cases of measles than any other year since the disease was declared eliminated a quarter century ago.
Anti-vaccine behavior isn’t just about rhetoric and politics, she said, they put people at risk.
“Every child’s health is at risk,” Cresley said.
Several doctors whose organization is plaintiffs in the lawsuit said Kennedy’s actions raised questions about the safety and efficacy of not just the Covid-19 vaccine, but all vaccines. Dr. Jason Goldman, president of the American College of Physicians, said some of his patients were “confusing and scared.”
“This not only affects one vaccine, it affects the overall vaccine schedule for adults and children, putting patients at risk,” he said at a press conference Monday.
Goldman added that changes to CDC guidance regarding the COVID-19 vaccine could mean that patient insurance won’t cover the costs of the shot. Without coverage, those vaccines are too expensive and limit access to good protection.
Dr. Tina Tan, president of the American Infectious Diseases Society, said that Covid-19 is not a serious illness for children and that “we know that our people who care for our children don’t.”
“Some people say that only a small number of children are dying from COVID, but the only number of allowed dead children from COVID is zero, especially if there are measures to prevent deaths available to us. “It’s really ruthless to deprive parents of their abilities and choices to protect their children through vaccinations.”
CNN’s Asuka Koda contributed to this report.
Fix: The plaintiff’s lawyers mischaracterized the situation of the anonymous physician. This story has been updated to reflect changes.
