Nessel joins several states in lawsuit challenging RFK Jr. vaccine schedule, immunization policies

The new childhood immunization policies and vaccine schedule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the focus of yet another multistate lawsuit, with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel signing on.

The lawsuit challenges the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “decision memo” issued in January, which stripped seven childhood vaccines, including those protecting against rotavirus, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, influenza, COVID-19, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), of what has been a typically and universally recommended status. 

The complaint — which names federal DHHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CDC Acting Director Jay Bhattacharya — also challenges what several attorneys general have called the unlawful replacement of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the expert federal panel that has guided U.S. vaccine policy for decades.

“Childhood vaccines are proven to save lives, and the overhaul of the nation’s immunization schedule has only sown unnecessary confusion and anxiety for parents who are simply trying to make the best, most informed decision for their children,” Nessel said in a statement. “While physicians … are standing up for kids and following evidence-based recommendations, the CDC cannot be permitted to let politics and unlawful appointments interfere with longstanding public health policy.”

Michigan’s top doc says current vaccine guidance will remain despite new CDC schedule

Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan’s chief medical executive, previously said that the new changes may create confusion for families and clinicians in terms of school vaccine requirements, clinical workflows and the supply and use of combination vaccines.

Bagdasarian reupped that sentiment on Tuesday as news came that Nessel was joining others in the new lawsuit, including the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

A full list of Nessel’s federal litigation against the Trump administration can be found on her office’s state website.