Following MPHA’s announcement that it would join five leading national public health and medical professional societies in a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the organization received coverage from more than 50 media outlets.
Coverage from major outlets include:
BOSTON – July 7, 2025 – Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), American College of Physicians (ACP), American Public Health Association (APHA), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA), Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM), and a pregnant physician, filed suit in American Academy of Pediatrics v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to defend vaccine policy, and to put an end to the Secretary’s assault on science, public health and evidence-based medicine.
Plaintiffs in the case are suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Secretary Kennedy for acting arbitrarily and capriciously when he unilaterally changed Covid-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant people. Secretary Kennedy has also unjustly dismissed 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and appointed replacements who have historically espoused anti-vaccine viewpoints. This committee has proceeded to undermine the science behind vaccine recommendations. The lawsuit asks for preliminary and permanent injunctions to enjoin Secretary Kennedy’s rescissions of Covid vaccine
recommendations and a declaratory judgment pronouncing the change in recommendations as unlawful.
“This administration is an existential threat to vaccination in America, and those in charge are only just getting started. If left unchecked, Secretary Kennedy will accomplish his goal of ridding the United States of vaccines, which would unleash a wave of preventable harm on our nation’s children,” said Richard H. Hughes IV, partner at Epstein Becker Green and lead counsel for the plaintiffs. “The professional associations for pediatricians, internal medicine physicians, infectious disease physicians, high-risk pregnancy physicians, and public health professionals will not stand idly by as our system of prevention is dismantled. This ends now.”
The lawsuit charges that a coordinated set of actions by HHS and Secretary Kennedy were designed to mislead, confuse, and gradually desensitize the public to anti-vaccine and anti-science rhetoric, and that he has routinely flouted federal procedural rules. These actions include blocking CDC communications, unexplained cancellations of vaccine panel meetings at the FDA and CDC, announcing studies to investigate non-existent links between vaccines and autism, unilaterally overriding immunization recommendations, and replacing the diverse members of ACIP with a slate of individuals biased against sound vaccine facts.
Over 300 guests gathered for the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) 2025 Spring Awards Breakfast on June 6, 2025, at the Artists for Humanity EpiCenter in Boston and raised $130,000 to support its advocacy and alliance building work to create a healthier, more equitable future for all. Tpecial thanks to our Platinum Plus Sponsor, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the many sponsors and donors who made the event a success. The room broke into applause as MPHA laid out its vision for a movement for bold structural change so that individuals, families, and communities in Massachusetts regardless of race, ethnicity, wealth, or zip code have all the tools and resources they need to thrive.
Roeshana Moore-Evans, MPHA Board President, emphasized why this annual gathering had even greater meaning this year. “We gathered to reconnect with colleagues and allies, to celebrate our victories, to acknowledge this year’s public health champion awardees, and to find strength in one another during these harrowing times when public health is facing intentional threats. The energy, excitement, and power in the room demonstrated our shared goals of greater racial justice and health equity, and will fuel the strategic,
committed partnerships that we need to weather this storm and even make continued progress.”
The Boston Globe published a Letter to the Editor from MPHA Executive Director Carlene Pavlos and MPHA Deputy Director Oami Amarasingham on the dismantling of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice (ACIP).
BOSTON, MA – At the Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) Annual Meeting on December 10, 2024, the Members elected a slate of new officers and board members for the 2025 term. The meeting took place after the annual conference where MPHA unveiled its policy priorities for the 2025-2026 Massachusetts Legislative Session and held sessions to address pressing issues including housing, climate justice, sustainable food systems, transportation, and public health infrastructure. In addition to electing four new board members, Roeshana Moore-Evans was elevated to Board President and Dolores Thibault-Muñoz as President Elect.
The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance (MPHA) is gravely concerned about the confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Mr. Kennedy’s extensive record of spreading disinformation about vaccines, HIV and AIDS, water fluoridation, and transgender health care reveals a dangerous disregard for established science and evidence-based public health measures that have saved countless lives. During confirmation hearings, Mr. Kennedy demonstrated that he lacks the requisite training, health care management experience, ethical judgement, and basic understanding of science required to serve as our nation’s chief health official.
Mr. Kennedy, working at the behest of President Trump, is likely to systematically dismantle essential public health infrastructure and coerce health institutions, local officials, and public health workers to abandon evidence-based practices that have a real-world impact on the lives and health of millions. The health and safety of communities across the country depend on leadership that respects science, understands public health, and puts people ahead of politics and profits. Mr. Kennedy’s confirmation represents a dangerous departure from these principles.
Carlene Pavlos speaks to the role of Community Health Centers and the importance of accurate, detailed data to address inequitable health outcomes for BIPOC and low-income people.
Carlene along with DPH Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, and colleague Nancy Kreiger, professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health address the federal gag order on sharing public health data, an act Carlene likened to book burning.
MPHA detailed what is at stake if the Trump administration is successful in freezing federal grants and loans to myriad organizations working on public health related issues.
BOSTON, MA – The Massachusetts Public Health Alliance opposes the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to be the Secretary of Health and Human Services and is urging senators to vote against his confirmation.
Mr. Kennedy’s well-documented history of spreading disinformation regarding vaccinations, HIV and AIDS, water fluoridation, and transgender health care demonstrates that he is unqualified to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In each of these cases, not only do Mr. Kennedy’s assertions conflict with the recognized science, but they undermine successful public health interventions that have reduced illness, suffering, and deaths for decades.
On January 21, the Trump Administration instituted a sweeping gag order on all public communications from federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health. This dangerous new gag order is already impeding efforts to respond to emerging public health threats, like bird flu, and stalling critical medical research.
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance
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