NEW YORK (AP) — All 17 experts recently dismissed from a government vaccine advisory panel published an essay Monday decrying “destabilizing decisions” made by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that could lead to more preventable disease spread.

A document the Department of Health and Human Services sent to lawmakers to support Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to change U.S. policy on covid vaccines cites scientific studies that are unpublished or under dispute and mischaracterizes others.

Three of the health secretary’s picks to replace fired members of an influential panel that sets U.S. vaccine policies have filed statements in court flagging concerns about vaccines.

Retsef Levi, a professor of operations management at  MIT’s Sloan School of Management, has published several papers regarding the mortality rates from COVID-19 vaccines.

By Chad Terhune and Dan Levine (Reuters) -One of the new vaccine advisers picked by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has earned thousands of dollars as an expert witness in litigation against Merck’s Gardasil vaccine,

Robert F. Kennedy's overall approval rating sits at 51 percent, though the party breakdown shows a big divide between Democrats and the GOP.

The new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey found adults divided over the health secretary but with a bare majority viewing him favorably.

The health secretary cited financial conflicts, but a White House official and someone familiar with his thinking said he was also concerned about ties to Democrats.