US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has dismissed the chair and vice-chair of an influential task force responsible for determining which preventive medical services should be provided to patients at no cost.
Dr John Wong, professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and Dr Esa Davis, professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, were removed from the United States Preventive Services Task Force, according to letters dated May 11 and seen by Reuters.
An official for the Department of Health and Human Services, which RFK Jr. leads, confirmed the firings. Dr Wong’s term was due to end in March 2027, while Dr Davis’s was set to conclude in March 2028.
The task force, which typically has 16 members, last met over a year ago after Kennedy cancelled its regularly scheduled meetings. New members have not been named to replace the five volunteers whose terms expired in December, leaving the panel with a significantly reduced capacity.
In his letters, Kennedy stated the terminations were “administrative in nature” and noted that applications for a seat on the volunteer panel are open through May 23. Dr Wong, however, said in an email that both he and Dr Davis had reapplied to be members of the task force “with trepidation around the validity of the process.”
Medical experts have voiced concerns that Kennedy’s sidelining of the panel has delayed updates to vital screening guidelines for conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
The HHS had last month announced it was seeking clinicians and researchers to be nominated to the task force across various specialities, but did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday regarding whether the eight remaining panel members would also be dismissed.
Medical experts say Kennedy’s sidelining of the panel has delayed updates to screening guidelines for cancer, heart disease and other conditions.
In the correspondence, Kennedy says HHS aims to implement “standard operating procedures” at the task force and protect its long-term credibility.
While traditionally an independent group of volunteer experts, the task force members are selected by the health secretary without Senate confirmation and it relies on support from the department’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. A Supreme Court decision last June affirmed the Secretary’s authority to review the task force’s recommendations.
Last July, 104 health organisations, including the influential American Medical Association, urged Congressional health committees “to protect the integrity” of the task force, which some conservatives have criticised as “too left-leaning.”
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