Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., blasted a federal vaccine advisory panel as "totally discredited" just as it prepares to vote on changes to hepatitis B vaccine guidance.
The guidance is a matter of great importance to the Louisiana physician and longtime liver specialist.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is weighing whether to roll back its long-standing recommendation that newborns receive a hepatitis B vaccine at birth if the mother tests negative or has an unknown status.
Instead, the panel is considering shifting to an "individual-based decision-making" model — a move Cassidy says could undermine years of proven public health practice.
Cassidy has opposed the proposed changes since they were first floated in September, warning that Americans should not trust revised guidance coming from a committee he believes has lost credibility.
On Thursday, Cassidy took direct aim at Aaron Siri, an anti-vaccine attorney scheduled to address the committee.
"Aaron Siri is a trial attorney who makes his living suing vaccine manufacturers. He is presenting as if an expert on childhood vaccines," Cassidy wrote on X.
"The ACIP is totally discredited. They are not protecting children," he added.
Siri is expected to present Friday on the evolution of the childhood vaccine schedule in the U.S., including comparisons with other developed nations.
He has been involved in numerous lawsuits challenging vaccine mandates nationwide and played a role in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s failed 2024 presidential campaign, The Hill reported.
Last year, Siri asked federal regulators to revoke approval of the polio vaccine — a move that drew fierce backlash from then-Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a polio survivor.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.