Documents Show a Controversial Vaccine Study’s Path to CDC Approval
Rolling Stone • • health
Key Points:
- In December, CDC political appointees expedited approval of a controversial $1.6 million grant for a hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau, bypassing standard scientific and ethical review processes, raising concerns among CDC scientists and global health experts.
- The proposed study plans to withhold the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine from half of over 14,000 infants in a country with high hepatitis B prevalence, sparking ethical objections, especially given the Guinea-Bissau ethics committee's expired registration and procedural irregularities.
- The trial, led by Danish researchers Christine Stabell Benn and Peter Aaby, aims to investigate potential negative effects of the vaccine, but critics argue it violates international research ethics by not providing the most effective known
