Leading anti-vaccine lawyer to brief CDC advisers

• Siri's vaccine views are widely discredited within the scientific and public health community.
• He petitioned the FDA in 2022 to revoke its approval of a polio vaccine on children, arguing that the agency didn't do sufficient safety studies.

Between the lines: Siri's appearance before the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is the latest and highest-profile instance of his influence on federal vaccine policy.

• His work has dovetailed with HHS efforts since Kennedy was sworn in, and Kennedy's authority "is already proving advantageous for Mr. Siri and others who have been pursuing far-reaching changes that Mr. Kennedy also sought for years," the New York Times reported in October.

Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who has been increasingly at odds with Kennedy since providing a pivotal vote to confirm him, strongly criticized Siri's appearance before ACIP on Thursday morning.

• "Aaron Siri is a trial attorney who makes his living suing vaccine manufacturers," Cassidy wrote on X. "He is presenting as if an expert on childhood vaccines. The ACIP is totally discredited. They are not protecting children."

The Department of Health and Human Services didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.