Federal vaccine committee meeting chaos; agenda unclear

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here. The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices now plans to meet March 18 and 19, according to updated information posted on the committee’s website at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No information had been posted Tuesday about what topics or votes will be on the meeting’s agenda, how the public can comment on agenda items, or even what time the meetings will start and end. The committee, which meets three times a year, had long planned to meet this Wednesday through Friday in Atlanta. But as the meeting date approached, the committee failed to make public – as required – its planned agenda, jeopardizing its ability to meet legally, Healthbeat reported last week. The cancellation also followed efforts in a lawsuit filed by the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups that have sought to stop the group’s next meeting because of concerns that ACIP will take