Health experts criticized the Department of Health and Human Services this week, after the agency confirmed the FDA recently blocked the publication of multiple studies supporting the safety of COVID and shingles vaccines.
"It's this opacity, this black box of how these decisions are getting made that I think is really worrisome and Americans really deserve better," said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, CEO of the Infectious Disease Society of America.
FDA scientists working with data firms to review the records of millions of patients determined side effects from the vaccines are rare.
But the New York Times reports that in October, scientists were directed to withdraw two COVID shot studies already accepted for medical journal publication.
Then in February, FDA officials would not sign off on submitting study abstracts on a shingles virus for an upcoming drug safety conference.
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HHS gave the following explanation to Scripps News:
“The studies were withdrawn because the authors drew broad conclusions that were not supported by the underlying data. The FDA acted to protect the integrity of its scientific process and ensure that any work associated with the agency meets its high standards.”
Still, many question if the decisions may have been influenced by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
"There is a long evidence trail of Secretary Kennedy really stating skepticism and, in some cases, downright hostility to vaccines," said Marrazzo.
Marrazzo, who is a former high-ranking National Institute of Health official, has filed a whistleblower complaint against the NIH. She says she was fired for objections to agency policies.
Meanwhile, according to HHS, Secretary Kennedy was not involved in the recent decisions to pull the vaccine studies.
