January 21, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a lawsuit filed today<\/a> in federal court, Children\u2019s Health Defense (CHD) and five other plaintiffs accused the American Academy of Pediatrics<\/a> (AAP) of running a decades-long racketeering scheme to defraud American families about the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The suit alleges that the AAP violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act<\/a> (RICO) by making \u201cfalse and fraudulent\u201d claims about the safety of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s (CDC) childhood immunization schedule<\/a> \u2014 while receiving funding from vaccine<\/a> manufacturers and providing financial incentives to pediatricians who achieve high vaccination rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor too long, the AAP has been held up on a pedestal, as if it were a font of science and integrity,\u201d said CHD<\/a> CEO Mary Holland. \u201cSadly, that\u2019s not the case.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, Holland said, the AAP \u201cis a front operation in a racketeering scheme involving Big Pharma<\/a>, Big Medicine and Big Media, ready at every turn to put profits<\/a> above children\u2019s health. It\u2019s time to face facts and see what the AAP is really about,\u201d Holland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the complaint, the AAP has worked to conceal the findings of studies that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) \u2014 now known as the National Academy of Medicine<\/a> \u2014 published in 2002<\/a> and 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IOM called for more research after concluding that no studies had ever been conducted to compare the health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP\u2019s conduct constitutes a pattern of fraud under RICO<\/a>, a statute often used to prosecute organized crime, said Rick Jaffe<\/a>, attorney for the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jaffe told The Defender<\/a> that while previous lawsuits \u201cchallenged individual vaccines or sought compensation for individual injuries,\u201d this \u201cis a fraud case following the playbook that took down Big Tobacco.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe AAP\u2019s actions parallel those of Big Tobacco, which misled the public regarding the safety of its products,\u201d Jaffe said. \u201cTobacco created false uncertainty to manufacture doubt. The AAP did the inverse \u2014 it created false certainty to foreclose questions. Both used the trappings of science to prevent actual science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n CHD General Counsel Kim Mack Rosenberg said the lawsuit shows \u201cthe close ties between entities and individuals who work toward the same purpose \u2014 propping up the vaccine industry and those who profit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP is the largest pediatric trade group in the U.S., with 67,000 members<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks financial damages for the individual plaintiffs. It also asks the court to require the AAP to disclose the \u201clack of comprehensive safety testing\u201d of vaccines<\/a>, and bar the AAP from making \u201cfurther unqualified safety claims\u201d about vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drs. Paul Thomas<\/a> and Kenneth Stoller<\/a> \u2014 physicians whose professional reputations were harmed for opposing AAP\u2019s guidelines, and the parents of four children who died or were injured after receiving routine childhood vaccinations, are among the plaintiffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lawsuit: AAP\u2019s childhood vaccine safety claims based on \u2018foundational fraud\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the lawsuit, the AAP\u2019s claims about vaccine safety rest on a \u201cfoundational fraud\u201d \u2014 namely, a 2002 article by pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit<\/a>, published in the journal Pediatrics<\/a>. The article claims that infants can \u201ctheoretically\u201d receive up to 10,000 vaccines at once without posing a health risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP \u201cdeployed this theoretical reassurance\u201d to block the IOM studies and questions about the safety of the childhood schedule, to assure parents, doctors and policymakers that the vaccine schedule was thoroughly tested<\/a>, the complaint states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP incorporated Offit\u2019s claims into its flagship Red Book<\/a> \u2014 its guide to the prevention, management and control of pediatric diseases. \u201cPediatricians learned to cite the 10,000 vaccines figure when parents expressed concern,\u201d the complaint<\/a> states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Red Book is their Bible. When AAP says the schedule is safe, that\u2019s what parents hear in examination rooms across America,\u201d Jaffe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOffit\u2019s theoretical PR article did not study, and could not prove, the safety of the cumulative schedule,\u201d according to the complaint. Yet the pediatricians who deviate from this standard of care have faced professional and personal consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018AAP turned pediatricians into vaccine delivery systems\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Thomas and Stoller, the two pediatricians who are suing the AAP, said they suffered professional and economic harm after questioning vaccine safety claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2020, Thomas co-authored research, now retracted, comparing the health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children<\/a>. Days later, the Oregon Medical Board suspended Thomas<\/a>, citing his deviation from AAP protocols and calling him a \u201cthreat to public health.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was forced to abandon my patients, something highly illegal,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThere was economic damage in the millions and devastating stress and emotional duress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stoller also faced professional discipline and reputational harm, according to the complaint. He lost his medical license in California<\/a> and New Mexico<\/a> after he granted medical exemptions to vaccine mandates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAAP turned pediatricians into vaccine delivery systems and destroyed the ones who asked questions,\u201d Jaffe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AAP guidelines led to children\u2019s vaccine-related deaths and injuries<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP\u2019s \u201cRed Book\u201d vaccine recommendations contributed to the deaths and injuries of three of the plaintiffs\u2019 children, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Idaho resident Andrea Shaw\u2019s two children \u2014 fraternal twins Dallas and Tyson Shaw<\/a> \u2014 both died last year, eight days after receiving their 18-month vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the complaint, the Shaw family\u2019s physician dismissed the parents\u2019 warnings about the family\u2019s history of adverse reactions to the flu vaccine. The doctor was following AAP guidance, \u201cwhich does not generally recognize family history of vaccine reactions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A day after their vaccination, Shaw\u2019s children were taken to the emergency room for a series of symptoms documented as \u201cpost-immunization reaction, initial encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A week later, the children died. Local authorities launched a homicide investigation against their mother, based on the suspicion that she caused their deaths. The investigation is still active<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New York resident Shanticia Nelson\u2019s 1-year-old daughter, Sa\u2019Niya Carter<\/a>, died last year of cardiac arrest after having seizures<\/a> roughly 12 hours after receiving six \u201ccatch-up\u201d injections containing 12 vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nelson told doctors she was concerned about giving her daughter so many vaccines at once, because the child was sick at the time. However, healthcare workers told Nelson that the \u201ccatch-up\u201d regimen and vaccinating a \u201cmildly ill\u201d child were safe, according to the AAP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carter\u2019s death certificate listed \u201csudden unexpected death in childhood\u201d as the official cause of death. However, the coroner found signs of encephalitis<\/a>, a condition<\/a> linked to the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) vaccine, which Carter had received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShaw and Nelson\u2019s stories show what happens when AAP\u2019s paradigm corrupts medical judgment at the point of care,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plaintiff Jane Doe\u2019s daughter, \u201cE,\u201d a high school student in New York, sustained anaphylactic reactions after getting three routine childhood vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The student later obtained a medical exemption from all further vaccinations. But in 2024, her school\u2019s medical consultant revoked the exemption \u2014 and two more exemptions \u201cE\u201d had obtained \u2014 citing AAP guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After school officials said she couldn\u2019t return to school unless she complied with state vaccine mandates, \u201cE\u201d became suicidal \u2014 so her parents allowed her to \u201ccatch up\u201d on her vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After getting those shots, \u201cE\u201d had a severe allergic reaction and was diagnosed with arthropathy<\/a>, a joint disease, requiring surgery and ongoing care. Arthropathy has been linked to the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, which \u201cE\u201d had received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJane Doe\u2019s story shows what happens when treating physicians get it right and the AAP paradigm overrides them,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Complaint highlights AAP\u2019s conflict of interest with vaccine makers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP maintains financial relationships with vaccine manufacturers<\/a>, including Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur, and also with the federal government<\/a>. However, the group doesn\u2019t disclose these relationships in its policy statements and public safety assurances, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This has led to conflicts of interest, including the formation of an \u201cassociation-in-fact enterprise<\/a>,\u201d referring to \u201cindividuals or entities that operate together for a common purpose without forming a formal legal entity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe same pharmaceutical conglomerates that serve as enterprise participants in manufacturing childhood vaccines have systematically acquired companies treating the chronic conditions<\/a> those vaccines cause, creating a closed-loop system that financializes childhood illness,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The complaint alleges that AAP has subsequently resisted any changes to the childhood vaccination schedule, including those enacted under the leadership of U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year, the AAP and other medical organizations sued Kennedy<\/a> and other federal health officials and agencies. The groups seek to roll back the changes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) made to the childhood schedule. Last week, the AAP updated its complaint<\/a> after HHS reduced the number of recommended childhood vaccines<\/a> from 17 to 11 earlier this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The AAP last year released its own<\/a> \u201cevidence-based\u201d immunization schedule<\/a>, identical to the CDC\u2019s childhood immunization schedule as it was before Kennedy became health secretary. Several states have adopted the AAP\u2019s schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AAP later rejected the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices<\/a> (ACIP) vote to end hepatitis B shots for newborns, claiming children will \u201cdie\u201d<\/a> as a result. HHS removed AAP members<\/a> from ACIP work groups last year. AAP\u2019s updated lawsuit also asks the court to block ACIP\u2019s next meeting in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a separate lawsuit filed last month, the AAP demanded HHS restore $12 million in research grants<\/a> that HHS withdrew<\/a> last year. Last week, a federal judge reinstated the funding<\/a>. AAP has also called for the prohibition of religious and philosophical exemptions<\/a> to vaccination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When HHS \u201chas attempted reform, AAP leads the opposition,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mack Rosenberg said the AAP \u201cfails to follow the actual science\u201d in its lawsuits. Instead, the organization relies \u201conly on that which supports its position that the childhood schedule is \u2018safe and effective.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Plaintiffs compare AAP\u2019s actions to those of Big Tobacco <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The complaint draws parallels between AAP\u2019s actions and tobacco companies\u2019 efforts to conceal the dangers of smoking, which the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted in a landmark RICO case, U.S. v. Philip Morris USA<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Philip Morris case, a federal court found that the tobacco industry was liable for denials about the health risks of tobacco spanning several decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The complaint states there are parallels between the AAP\u2019s actions and those of Big Tobacco, including \u201csuppression of adverse research, use of \u2018independent\u2019 scientific voices to block studies, and coordinated enterprise activity to mislead the public.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the latest in a series of lawsuits<\/a> CHD has filed. These include lawsuits against:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please make a donation today<\/a> to support this lawsuit and CHD\u2019s other work to protect children.Related articles in The Defender<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Children\u2019s Health Defense (CHD) and five other plaintiffs today accused the American Academy of Pediatrics of running a decades-long racketeering scheme to defraud American families about the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule. CHD filed the RICO suit in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2526,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2525\/revisions\/2526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfawbn.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"aap](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/childrenshealthdefense.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/chd-physicians-aap-lawsuit-vaccine-scheme-800x417.jpg?resize=800%2C417&ssl=1\")
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