RFK Jr. Cancels Millions in Grants to AAP, as Battle Heats Up Between Health Officials and Pediatric Group
HHS ended seven grants, citing insufficient emphasis on chronic disease and nutrition and AAP’s use of “identity-based language,” such as “pregnant people.”
This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced millions in funding cuts to the AAP — on the same day lawyers for the pediatric trade group defended their lawsuit against Kennedy in a Boston court. The Washington Post said the AAP lost the funding after “criticizing RFK Jr.” HHS said the agency cancelled the grants because they “no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.”
Tensions are escalating between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced millions in funding cuts to the AAP — on the same day lawyers for the group defended their lawsuit against Kennedy in a Boston court.
The Washington Post said the AAP lost the funding after “criticizing RFK Jr.” However, HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told The Defender the agency cancelled the grants because they “no longer align with the Department’s mission or priorities.”
According to the Post, HHS ended seven grants, citing insufficient emphasis on chronic disease and nutrition and AAP’s use of “identity-based language,” such as “pregnant people.”
The grants funded initiatives relating to infant deaths, adolescent health, fetal alcohol syndrome and autism.
In July, the AAP sued Kennedy in his capacity as head of HHS, alleging changes to COVID-19 vaccine recommendations were “unscientific” and an “assault on science, public health and evidence-based medicine.”
Earlier this month, the AAP bolstered its allegations against Kennedy in a bid to disband the panel of vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In June, Kennedy fired all members of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replaced them with new members.
The AAP has publicly stated that it will no longer align its vaccine recommendations with those of the CDC, including new recommendations for COVID-19 vaccines for children and hepatitis B vaccines for newborns.
The group has also called for an end to religious and philosophical vaccine exemptions for schoolchildren, and the CDC removed AAP and American Medical Association representatives from several ACIP workgroups.
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AAP a ‘front organization for the pharmaceutical industry’
Children’s Health Defense CEO Mary Holland said the HHS decision to pull funding from AAP was “necessary and appropriate.” She accused the pediatric trade group of presiding over the “worst decline in children’s health in American history.”
Holland said:
“While this trade organization poses as a professional association promoting children’s health, in fact, it is a front organization for the pharmaceutical industry. It markets anything and everything that industry sells, from vaccines to weight-loss injections to gender-affirming care for children, with little to no science behind its promotions.
“It’s time for change, and Secretary Kennedy is bringing that. We look forward to HHS’ investigation of the true drivers of chronic disease among American children. It is a fool’s errand to look to the AAP or their Pharma backers for these answers.”
The AAP receives funding from the pharmaceutical industry, including from vaccine makers Pfizer and GSK.
According to the Post, Wednesday’s announcement by HHS “surprised” the AAP. Mark Del Monte, the group’s CEO and executive vice president, told the Post the cancellation of funding “will directly impact and potentially harm infants, children, youth, and their families in communities across the United States.”
The AAP is considering legal action, Del Monte said.
The organization said on Facebook that it is “proud” of its work and of the “staff, pediatricians, and partners who were engaged in these important programs.”
But according to Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, AAP’s work is “deeply compromised by financial support of various kinds by pharmaceutical companies” and maintains an unquestioning stance toward vaccines and vaccine safety.
“AAP’s view of public health is religious dedication to vaccines as the one-and-only method, and any adverse effects are minimal and justified for the good of the whole. It has abandoned fundamental medical ethics and adopted moral relativism. Money plays a big role, but it is also ideological,” Orient said.
According to Orient, these factors contribute to AAP’s censorship of physicians and researchers who question its policies or vaccine safety more broadly.
“AAP squelches physicians’ independent thinking or deviation from the holy vaccine schedule. It defames doctors who ask questions as ‘anti-science.’ … Taxpayers should not be forced to support such organizations,” Orient said.
AAP’s actions ‘brought their motives into question’
The Post reviewed internal HHS emails sent Tuesday that directed federal health agency officials to “proceed with canceling these today if not done already.”
These cancellations included grants from the CDC and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Documents relating to an AAP project that received CDC funding referred to “the health of pregnant and postpartum people” and included a commitment to incorporating “diverse perspectives into clinical care and public health materials.”
“These elements are not incidental; they are woven through the title, narrative and work plans of your organization’s award project and define your organization’s project’s objective framework,” wrote Jamie Legier, director of the CDC’s office of grants services, in a letter to AAP terminating the project.
In a letter terminating an HRSA grant project relating to “comprehensive systems integration for adolescent and young adult health,” HRSA Administrator Thomas J. Engels wrote that the project was not aligned with HHS’ “emphasis on nutrition and the prevention and management of chronic disease.”
According to the Post, several of the cancellation letters cited a federal statute allowing the termination of a federal grant if it “no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities” or if the granting agency “determines that the remaining portion of the Federal award will not accomplish the purposes for which the Federal award was made.”
The same language was included in an executive order President Donald Trump issued in August, on “improving oversight of federal grantmaking.”
Former CDC official Greta M. Massetti, Ph.D., told the Post that AAP projects and research that “translate evidence into clinical guidance, support frontline providers, and help ensure that public health recommendations reach children and families in real-world settings.”
But according to pediatrician Dr. Larry Palevsky, AAP’s studies have been poorly constructed and have harmed — not helped — children.
“There is real, solid evidence that the AAP does not support evidence-based medicine, vaccine safety, injury prevention, nutrition, mental health and protection for our most vulnerable children, despite their claims to the contrary,” Palevsky said.
The Post reported that the AAP “has criticized Kennedy for making unilateral changes to federal vaccine policy, calling them unscientific and arguing that his actions undermined evidence-based medicine, sidelined expert advice, eroded trust in vaccines and jeopardized public health.”
This reflects media narratives reporting on the grant cancellations, including stories by the Post and The Guardian suggesting the grants were cancelled because AAP criticized Kennedy.
Palevsky disputed these assertions. “The move by HHS to cut funding to the AAP is not due to a personal vendetta,” he said. “Their own actions have brought their motives into question.”
Related articles in The Defender
AAP Rejects New Hep B Recommendation, Claims Kids Will ‘Die’ if Newborns Don’t Get the Shot
AAP Ratchets Up Complaints Against RFK Jr.’s CDC Vaccine Panel in Updated Lawsuit
Leading Pediatrician Group Defies CDC, Tells Parents to Get COVID Shots for Infants, Kids
AAP Received Tens of Millions in Federal Funding to Push Vaccines and Combat ‘Misinformation’
American Academy of Pediatrics Wants to Shut Down Religious Vaccine Exemptions
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Any group of physicians that advocates for covid vax for infants and eliminating religious exemptions is not fit for purpose. Throw in the funding from Big Pharma, and the AAP is clearly corrupted.
It's completely obvious to any rational observer that this is the case.