‘Dangerous step backwards’: Doctors’ group reacts after US vaccine panel head questions polio jabs
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Dr Kirk Milhoan, chair of a US government vaccine advisory panel, said vaccine decisions should be made by patients and doctors, not by mandate.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON – The chair of a US government vaccine advisory panel questioned broad vaccine recommendations for polio and other childhood diseases, and said promoting individual choice rather than public health is the key aim of the panel, drawing a rebuke from the nation’s top doctors’ group on Jan 23.
Dr Kirk Milhoan, a paediatric cardiologist who was named chair of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) outside Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in December, made the comments in a Jan 22 interview on the podcast, Why Should I Trust You?
Vaccination against some diseases, such as polio, could be reconsidered given advances in medical care, said Dr Milhoan, who joined the committee after US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a long-time anti-vaccine activist, fired all previous members in June.
“Our sanitation is different, our risk of disease is different. And so those all play into the evaluation of whether this is worthwhile, of taking a risk on a vaccine or not,” he said.
Dr Milhoan did not respond to a request for comment.
Polio, a disabling and life-threatening disease, has been eradicated in many parts of the world, but still circulates. The CDC currently recommends that all children receive the vaccine.
The American Medical Association said in a statement that it was “deeply alarmed” by Dr Milhoan’s comments.
“This is not a theoretical debate – it is a dangerous step backwards,” the group said.
US President Donald Trump and Mr Kennedy have moved quickly to overhaul federal vaccine policy
Experts have said the efforts could expose more children to harmful viruses.
Individual autonomy
Dr Milhoan said the committee aims to prioritise “not public health, but individual autonomy” and that vaccine decisions should be made by patients and doctors, not by mandate.
US schools require vaccination against certain illnesses, including polio and measles, based on state requirements. Most states have typically aligned those requirements with the CDC’s broad recommendations.
Dr Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, said most medical experts now disregard the committee’s opinions.
“It’s a discredited committee,” he said.
Dr Milhoan is listed as a senior fellow on the website of the Independent Medical Alliance, which backed Mr Kennedy for health secretary and has promoted controversial and unproven medical treatments, such as using the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to treat Covid-19. REUTERS
