Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s revamped vaccine advisory panel has already suffered a setback after one of his handpicked members quit ahead of the group’s first major meeting.
Dr. Michael Ross, one of the eight newly appointed panelists, was no longer listed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s official list of voting members ahead of the panel’s two-day meeting beginning Wednesday, the New York Times reported.
The abrupt departure marks a humiliating early blow to the Health and Human Services chief’s controversial efforts to overhaul the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on vaccine efficacy.
Among Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims is that the measles jab contain “aborted fetus debris.” / REUTERS
Two weeks ago, Kennedy, a longtime vaccine skeptic, went on a firing spreesaying he was “retiring” all 17 members of the advisory committee on vaccines in a “bold step” to help restore “public trust.” The move raised alarm bells at a time when health experts fear vaccine skepticism is fueling the nation’s largest measles outbreak in around 25 years.
It’s unclear why Ross, a Virginia-licensed physician and former professor of obstetrics and gynecology, quit before the committee’s first proper meeting.
Unlike other new faces at ACIP, like Robert Malone and Vicky PebsworthRoss is not overtly anti-vax. He wrote on LinkedIn that he engineered the acquisition of a stem cell company and had made an “investment in a vaccine company.” To serve on ACIP, he would likely have been required to recuse himself from an investment of that nature. His departure from the committee came amid a review of new members’ financial holdings.
Kennedy was recently busted misrepresenting Ross’ credentials. He claimed this month that the doctor was “a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University, with a career spanning clinical medicine, research, and public health policy.”
Dr. Michael Ross’ profile picture on LinkedIn. / LinkedIn
George Washington University told NBC Washington that Ross had not worked there in eight years, despite his LinkedIn listing it as an employer as recently as May 2025, and VCU told the station he had not worked there in four years.
In an undated post, a biography page on Washington D.C. Arch Angels—an organization that connects early-stage companies with investors—said that Ross “led the growth of this ophthalmic medical device company from $3.1M to over $8.1M in revenue in only two years.” Most of those sales were in China and East Asia, which Ross “visits 4-5 times per year.”
Ross, 75, did not respond to a text from the Daily Beast on Wednesday. Records show he owns a home in a D.C. suburb, which he purchased for $1.6 million in 2016.
Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, initially denied the Times report on Tuesday afternoon, telling the Times that no members had withdrawn. Those reports were “untrue” and “completely false,” he said.
But within hours, Nixon reversed course. “Dr. Michael Ross decided to withdraw from ACIP during the financial holdings review required of members before they can start work on the committee,” he said.
“The sacrifice to serve on A.C.I.P. varies from member to member, and we appreciate Dr. Ross’s willingness to go through this rigorous process,” he added.
The Daily Beast has contacted HHS for additional comment.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to gut ACIP has been widely criticized by public health experts. / Nathan Howard/Reuters
The withdrawal is the latest controversy to hit Kennedy’s reshaping of federal vaccine policy.
Since joining the Trump administration in January, Kennedy, who is leading the administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative, has doubled down on conspiracy theories around vaccines, including that the measles jab contains “aborted fetus debris.”
His decision to gut ACIP has been widely criticized by public health experts.
On June 10, The Wall Street Journal published a scathing op-ed ripping into Kennedy for firing all 17 members of the advisory committee. He justified the move at the time by saying they had all received substantial funding from pharmaceutical companies, including those marketing vaccines, hinting at a plot to push vaccines on Americans.
The Journal’s editorial board hit back, noting that trial doctors get small payments, typically less than their salaries, from vaccine makers to assist with clinical trials. The board also pointed out that conflicts of interest among the committee were “honestly handled.”
The ACIP meetings scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at the CDC’s headquarters are still expected to go ahead, according to the Times.
The committee may be reviewing dozens of shots that contain aluminum ingredients, Bloomberg reported last weekciting a source familiar with the matter.
