Former FDA commissioner on RFK Jr.’s newly appointed vaccine advisory panel

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Dr. Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner, spoke with Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation Sunday about HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s newly appointed vaccine advisory panel.

According to Brennan, Secretary Kennedy remade the the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) after dismissing "about 17 members of the existing board and put in some members of his own choice."

Brennan also reported Dr. Susan Kressly, President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), made a video saying "federal immunization policy is 'no longer a credible process' and it's being politicized at the expense of children."

This prompted her to ask Dr. Gottlieb, who worked with the first Trump Administration, if he agrees with AAP, to which he said:

"I worked in the first Trump administration. I was fortunate to do that and proud to serve in that administration. I think we did a lot of important things on public health. We presided over the first cell and gene therapy approvals. The president tried to expand access to those treatments through the Right to Try legislation that he championed. He supported the FDA on an effort to try to keep tobacco products out of the hands of kids, record number of generic approvals, and a lot of other accomplishments. I think a lot of people on my side of the political aisle feel that a lot of these policies that Secretary Kennedy is championing are going to be contained to vaccines and not bleed into a broader public health doctrine. I think that's not right. I think there's a lot of people now who don't think these things are particularly political, or shouldn't be, and don't think these decisions should be politically decided, who are going to find when they go to the doctor's office that vaccines that they may want to protect their lives or the lives of their families aren't going to be available. This does look like a political process right now. The secretary is going after issues that have long been bugaboos of him and his anti-vax group, Children's Health Defense. I don't think that's mistakable at this point. I think that he would probably acknowledge that. That he's taking on issues that he's championed for the last 20 years to restrict access to certain vaccines. That's going to grow. The list is growing, and it's going to start to be very tangible for people and go well beyond just the COVID vaccine, which is, I think, what most people think about when they perceive this administration's, or the secretary's efforts, to try to restrict access to vaccines."

During the interview, Brennan and Gottlieb talked about Republican Senator Bill Cassidy calling for a meeting with the newly restructured ACIP to be canceled because there was no CDC director in place, but according to Brennan, "his counsel was ignored."

When asked if there's any check on Kennedy, and if there's a need to get a CDC director in place, Gottlieb said:

"The CDC director had a confirmation hearing this week, and hopefully she'll be in place soon. I think she's quite strong and a good pick for that job. The board, this ACIP board, isn't fully constituted. There's only seven members on the board. At its peak membership, it has about 15. And you're right, a lot of the people who have been appointed don't have deep experience, or any experience, quite frankly, in vaccine science. They are people who have been ideologically aligned with Secretary Kennedy in the past and worked with him, many of them, not all of them. And I think that that isn't something that even the secretary would probably dispute at this time, and it did lead to some awkward moments at that meeting. For example, you know, one member had to have explained to him the difference between an antibody prophylaxis and a vaccine. So there were evidence in that discussion where the CDC directors had to provide some, quite frankly, remedial assistance to help brief these members on the basis of vaccine science. So it did show, hopefully, once they fully constitute that board, you're going to get more balance on it. I think some people are skeptical. I remain hopeful that there will be some good members that get seated eventually."

To watch more of Brennan's interview with Gottlieb, click here.