Former FDA Chiefs Blast New Agency Head's Vaccine Claims as Misguided and Misleading
A group of 12 former heads of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a scathing attack on the agency's current vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, over his claims about COVID-19 vaccines.
According to an internal memo released by the FDA, Prasad alleged that COVID-19 vaccines have caused 10 child deaths, without providing any evidence to support this claim. However, the former FDA leaders dispute this assertion, pointing out that the data used to track vaccine-related deaths is not sufficient to establish a causal link between the two.
In fact, the former leaders argue that substantial evidence suggests that COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization among children. They also claim that Prasad's memo fails to consider the long-standing science on how to evaluate vaccines being updated to better match virus strains, which would slow innovation in vaccine development.
The new proposals by Prasad, which have been met with alarm by many doctors and public health experts, aim to revise how life-saving vaccines for flu, COVID-19, and other respiratory diseases are handled. Critics argue that these changes would disadvantage the very people the FDA is meant to protect – millions of Americans at high risk from serious infections.
"This is a sad day when the FDA creates confusion and mistrust without supplying evidence," said Dr. Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "Vaccines save lives, period."
The controversy has come at a time when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long been an anti-vaccine advocate, is seeking to remake federal policies on vaccines.
A recent overhaul of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee has also sparked concerns that Prasad's new proposals are part of a broader effort to undermine public trust in vaccination efforts. The committee will meet later this week to discuss hepatitis B vaccinations and other vaccine-related topics.
As the debate over vaccine safety and efficacy continues, it is clear that misinformation and misunderstanding can have serious consequences for public health. It is essential that credible voices like those from the former FDA leaders and medical professionals like Dr. Nahass are heard and heeded.
A group of 12 former heads of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a scathing attack on the agency's current vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, over his claims about COVID-19 vaccines.
According to an internal memo released by the FDA, Prasad alleged that COVID-19 vaccines have caused 10 child deaths, without providing any evidence to support this claim. However, the former FDA leaders dispute this assertion, pointing out that the data used to track vaccine-related deaths is not sufficient to establish a causal link between the two.
In fact, the former leaders argue that substantial evidence suggests that COVID-19 vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe disease and hospitalization among children. They also claim that Prasad's memo fails to consider the long-standing science on how to evaluate vaccines being updated to better match virus strains, which would slow innovation in vaccine development.
The new proposals by Prasad, which have been met with alarm by many doctors and public health experts, aim to revise how life-saving vaccines for flu, COVID-19, and other respiratory diseases are handled. Critics argue that these changes would disadvantage the very people the FDA is meant to protect – millions of Americans at high risk from serious infections.
"This is a sad day when the FDA creates confusion and mistrust without supplying evidence," said Dr. Ronald Nahass, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "Vaccines save lives, period."
The controversy has come at a time when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has long been an anti-vaccine advocate, is seeking to remake federal policies on vaccines.
A recent overhaul of the CDC's vaccine advisory committee has also sparked concerns that Prasad's new proposals are part of a broader effort to undermine public trust in vaccination efforts. The committee will meet later this week to discuss hepatitis B vaccinations and other vaccine-related topics.
As the debate over vaccine safety and efficacy continues, it is clear that misinformation and misunderstanding can have serious consequences for public health. It is essential that credible voices like those from the former FDA leaders and medical professionals like Dr. Nahass are heard and heeded.
... I mean, who's gonna protect us from getting sick? 
My aunt just got her 2nd shot and she's still worried about the side effects 
... it's like, we know vaccines save lives, but sometimes I think some people forget that 
. And now this Dr. Prasad guy is saying they cause child deaths? That's just not true 
... our kids need to be protected from stuff that can kill 'em 
. We gotta make sure the science is sound and we're not making mistakes 
... my cousin's friend works at a hospital and she said there's no way these new rules would actually help anyone 
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This is so not cool! I mean, come on, 10 child deaths allegedly caused by COVID-19 vaccines? That's a pretty big claim without solid evidence 
. And to have the current vaccine chief making such assertions? It's just not right 
. The fact that former FDA heads are speaking out against this is huge 
. They know what they're talking about, and it sounds like Dr. Prasad is playing with fire 
. I'm all for keeping vaccines safe, but we need to be careful not to create confusion and mistrust 
. This whole situation has me worried about the direction things are heading 
. Can't we just stick to the science and trust the experts? 
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. I mean, who is this Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., anyway? Never heard of him until now... sounds like a suspect to me 
.
. The former FDA chiefs might be a bit harsh, but at least they're speaking truth to power 
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. & 4get about the memo 2, sounds like a bunch of hooey 2 me 
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, but come on people! 
. that's just gonna create more noise & mistrust. 
, not w/ assumptions & cherry-picked data 
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. I mean, come on, 10 child deaths out of millions vaccinated? That's some seriously skewed numbers right there. And what's with this memo from Prasad just dropping these claims without any concrete evidence to back it up? It's like he's trying to stir up trouble instead of promoting public health 
. I get that people can have differing opinions on vaccines, but when you're talking about undermining trust in life-saving vaccines, that's a whole different story. It's like he's trying to create chaos instead of addressing the real issues.
. We can't just have misinformation flying around and expect everything to work out on its own. The former FDA leaders are right; substantial evidence suggests COVID-19 vaccines save lives, and we should be building on that, not tearing it down.
before we start making any big decisions. We don't want to create a situation where vulnerable populations like the high-risk Americans are put at risk just because of misinformation 
anyway, gotta give props to dr nahass for speaking truth to power 
. And if you're gonna speak up, do it with evidence and respect 
. It's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment, but that don't mean we should lose sight of what's really important – keepin' our communities safe and healthy 
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, especially when they point out Prasad's memo lacks concrete evidence to back up his claims about child deaths from vaccines 
. I mean, 10 child deaths isn't exactly a drop in the bucket for a population of over 300 million Americans 
! Dr. Prasad needs to consider the bigger picture and not just focus on one specific metric. And what's with this overhaul of the CDC committee? Sounds like some pretty shady stuff going down behind closed doors 
...
. We need to support the people who are working tirelessly to keep us safe from preventable diseases. 
i mean, it makes sense that we need to update our vaccine strategies to keep up with the virus, but Dr Prasad is being super reckless with his claims 
anyway, let's hope the CDC and FDA get a handle on this ASAP 
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. As a society, we need people who are looking out for our health and wellbeing, not undermining them with misinformation and confusion. We can't afford to be paralyzed by doubt when it comes to something like this – the stakes are too high