January 23, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) released the following statement after reports that Dr. Kirk Milhoan, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), said a person’s right to refuse a vaccine outweighed concerns about illness or death from infectious diseases:
“Vaccines against polio, measles, and more have saved countless lives. For RFK Jr. to continue to peddle conspiracies and uplift dangerous voices is a betrayal of his duty and once again proves he is not qualified to lead our nation’s health.
“When I first met with RFK Jr. this time last year, he told me he would replace ‘bad scientists’ with ‘good scientists’ – well, we want REAL science and REAL doctors guiding our families.
“When RFK Jr. fired all 17 members of ACIP and replaced them with sycophants, we knew where this was headed. This has been the goal from the start — elevate fellow conspiracy theorists and reject decades of science.
“Dr. Kirk Milhoan’s dangerous rhetoric and actions, under the leadership of RFK Jr., will literally kill our children.”
RFK Jr. appointed Dr. Kirk Milhoan to ACIP earlier this year after RFK Jr. fired all its members and replaced them with his own handpicked appointees. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services named Dr. Kirk Milhoan as chair of ACIP in December. Dr. Kirk Milhoan succeeds Martin Kulldorff, who left the committee to take a position at HHS.
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