Full Breakdown
Kennedy Appoints Eight New Members to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force
By Drooid · · How we work
New Appointments Mark a Shift in Panel Composition
On September 17, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced eight new members for the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The slate adds a pediatric hematologist-oncologist, a pediatrician, a cardiovascular specialist, a gastroenterology expert, a diagnostic radiologist, a family-medicine physician, a health-finance professor, and a preventive-cardiology professor. The USPSTF, an independent 16-member panel that typically meets three times a year, had not convened for more than a year following a series of dismissals and a postponed November meeting due to a 2025 government shutdown.
Background: Prior Disruptions and Kennedy’s Overhaul
Kennedy has previously reshaped federal health advisory bodies, notably dismissing the entire CDC vaccine advisory committee in 2024 and removing the USPSTF chair and vice-chair in May 2024. A Supreme Court decision in June affirmed his authority over the task force, but the panel’s November meeting was canceled, and a March meeting was also postponed. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which provides scientific support to the USPSTF, has lost roughly 80 % of its workforce and terminated more than 150 research grants related to health-care delivery and preventive services.
Official Statements & Responses
Willie Underwood III, president of the American Medical Association, emphasized that maintaining a strong primary-care voice remains central to the task force’s work and that recommendations must continue to rely on a transparent, rigorous, independent scientific process. Secretary Kennedy stated that the new members have a “clear mission” and that the overhaul is intended to ensure the panel asks hard questions and follows the evidence wherever it leads.
Data & Statistics
- USPSTF membership: 16 members (now includes eight new appointees).
- AHRQ staffing: approximately 80 % reduction over the past year.
- Research grants terminated: more than 150.
- Panel meetings: none held since the November 2024 meeting was canceled.
These developments signal a significant restructuring of the USPSTF, with potential implications for the preventive services covered without cost under the Affordable Care Act.