USC study: Despite his claims, vaccine panel conflicts at record lows before RFK Jr. purge

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Conflicts of interest among members of federal vaccine advisory committees had fallen to record lows before Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the entire roster of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) earlier this summer, according to a new study published in JAMA.

Researchers at the University of Southern California’s Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics found that while conflicts of interest were widespread in the early 2000s — peaking at 42.8% among ACIP members in 2000 — they have since dropped to single digits and remained low for nearly a decade.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. © U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Conflicts fell amid heightened scrutiny

Between 2016 and 2024, just 6.2% of ACIP members and 1.9% of members of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) reported a financial conflict of interest at any given meeting, the study found.

Fewer than 1% of those conflicts involved personal income from vaccine makers — consulting fees, stock or royalties — often viewed as the most concerning conflicts.

Instead, most disclosures were tied to research support, reflecting the academic and clinical expertise required of committee members. Recusal rates remained low, averaging 1.3% for ACIP and 7.4% for VRBPAC.

“The most frequently reported [conflict of interest] was research support, reflecting members’ expertise, with the prevalence of conflicts that were related to personal income less than 1% for both committees since 2016,” the authors wrote.

Kennedy’s sweeping dismissal

On June 9, HHS announced it had removed all 17 ACIP members, with Secretary Kennedy saying the panel was “plagued” by conflicts of interest and too deferential to industry.

“The public must know that unbiased science — evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest — guides the recommendation of our health agencies,” Kennedy said at the time.

The move drew sharp criticism from former committee members and Senate Democrats, who accused Kennedy of replacing vaccine experts with figures more sympathetic to vaccine skepticism.

On July 29, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee launched an investigation into the decision.

The senators warned the shake-up gave a platform to conspiracy theorists and risked further undermining public confidence in vaccines.

A clash of narratives

The research letter, led by Genevieve Kanter, Ph.D., an associate professor at USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, notes that Kennedy’s oft-cited claim that 97% of ACIP members had conflicts of interest was drawn from a single 2000 congressional report.

“Secretary Kennedy is right that conflict of interest is an important issue, but he is wrong that it is present at substantial levels on HHS vaccine advisory committees,” said Peter Lurie, M.D., M.P.H., a co-author and former FDA associate commissioner.

Broader implications

The findings arrive as Kennedy continues to overhaul scientific advisory bodies across HHS, part of a broader push under the Trump administration’s “Restoring Gold Standard Science,” executive order.

Kennedy’s reconstitution of ACIP has prompted concerns among public health experts and practicing physicians, who question the qualifications and ideological inclinations of the new appointees.

Some have urged HHS to reinstate former ACIP members, warning that the abrupt overhaul — absent public vetting — risks compromising the rigor of vaccine recommendations and undermining trust in the immunization process.