On March 16, U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy issued a 45-page order in American Academy of Pediatrics v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services granting a preliminary injunction to several medical and public health organizations that challenged actions related to vaccine recommendations that HHS issued to the CDC (via the ACIP).

The court found that the government:

• “bypassed ACIP to change the immunization schedules, which is both a technical, procedural failure itself and a strong indication of something more fundamentally problematic: an abandonment of the technical knowledge and expertise embodied by that committee; and
• “removed all duly appointed members of ACIP and summarily replaced them without undertaking any of the rigorous screening that had been the hallmark of ACIP member selection for decades.” 

The court said that “this procedural failure highlights the very reasons why procedures exist and raises a substantial likelihood that the newly appointed ACIP fails to comport with governing law.” 

The court concluded that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the reconstitution of the ACIP and the January 2026 changes to the childhood immunization schedule violate the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”).  Thus, the court stayed:

• the January 2026 memo revising the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule;
• the appointments of the thirteen ACIP members appointed on June 11, 2025, September 11, 2025, and January 13, 2026; and
• all votes taken by the now-stayed ACIP.

The full order is here:  https://litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/American-Academy-of-Pediatrics_2026.03.16_ORDER-ON-MOTION-FOR-PRELIMINARY-INJUNCTION.pdf

See our prior alerts on the ACIP/CDC vaccine changes here:

https://www.groom.com/resources/acip-vaccine-meeting-implications-for-plans-and-issuers/

https://www.groom.com/resources/cdc-updates-immunization-schedule-to-reflect-acips-recommendations-102loqt/

https://www.groom.com/resources/acip-updates-its-recommendation-for-hepatitis-b-vaccine-for-infants-102lx2k/

https://www.groom.com/resources/cdc-adopts-part-of-acips-updated-recommendations-for-hepatitis-b-vaccine-for-inf-102lyky/