Two members of a panel that advises the federal government on vaccine injury compensation have been removed from the group before their terms had ended, according to media reports.
As first reported by Endpoint News, the two members of the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV) received emails earlier this week informing them that they had been removed from the panel. Stat confirmed the two members were Veronica McNally, JD, of Michigan State College of Law, and Wendy Lane, MD, MPH, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not respond to a request for confirmation of the news.
Group could recommend expansion of compensable vaccine injuries
Housed within HHS, the ACCV reviews issues relating to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP), established in 1986 to protect vaccine makers from most lawsuits alleging vaccine-related injury.
Under its charter, the panel advises HHS on the implementation of the VICP, including which vaccines should be included in the program, and can recommend changes to the Vaccine Injury Table, which lists vaccine-associated injuries or conditions that may be eligible for compensation under the VICP. It also directs research priorities related to vaccine injuries and surveys how adverse reaction data are gathered and used.
The ACCV charter includes three slots for lawyers, three for public health officials, and three for members of the public.
Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. became HHS secretary, vaccine experts have been concerned that he might seek to use the group to make changes to the VICP that would expand the list of injuries or conditions eligible for compensation. “The VICP is broken, and I intend to fix it," Kennedy said in post on X in July 2025.
Among the fears is that an expanded list of injuries associated with vaccines could bankrupt the VICP Trust Fund, which could force vaccine makers to leave the market.
ACCV recently met on December 29, 2025, the group’s first meeting since July 2024. It’s supposed to meet four times per year. Lane was at the meeting, which did not result in any actions taken, but McNally was unable to attend.
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