| The skinny
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired the vice chairs of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The USPSTF is a panel of experts who make recommendations on preventive health services like screenings, counseling and medications to improve the country’s population health. The two newly ousted members are John Wong, a professor of medicine at Tufts University, and Esa Davis, professor of medicine at the University of Maryland. Kennedy fired them “to ensure clarity, continuity and confidence” in HHS’ oversight of the USPSTF, according to a letter obtained this week by the New York Times. This beef isn’t new
The panel of experts hasn’t convened in over a year. They were slated to meet last July, but Kennedy canceled the session, giving members just four days’ notice and no explanation as to why the meeting couldn’t take place. Reports emerged last summer that he wanted to dismiss all of the USPSTF’s members due their views being too “woke.” What are healthcare organizations saying?
The American Medical Association is “extremely concerned” about the firings, according to a statement issued by President Bobby Mukkamala on Wednesday. “Today’s changes were foreshadowed by the earlier dismantling of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). We strongly urge HHS to restore the USPSTF’s long-standing, transparent process for selecting members, specifically clinicians with expertise in the fields of preventive medicine and primary care. We also implore HHS to commit to once again holding regular task force meetings to ensure its important work can continue without further delay. Our patients’ lives depend on it,” Mukkamala’s statement read. Health services research organization AcademyHealth also criticized the move, saying the removal of USPSTF leadership without a transparent explanation risks disrupting the panel’s work at a time when evidence-based care guidance is especially important. “With a nomination deadline for new members this Saturday and no independent review of who gets seated, the free preventive services that millions of Americans rely on could be compromised, delayed or reversed,” the organization said in a statement. — By Katie Adams |
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