WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Sunday that President Trump’s recent comments about how hepatitis B spreads are “simply not true,” challenging the president’s assertion that the disease is transmitted mostly through sexual contact or contaminated needles. Gottlieb addressed the issue during an interview on CBS’s Face the Nation.
Gottlieb noted that hepatitis B infections often originate from mothers who are infected but never tested or whose results are missed. He said test inaccuracies also pose a risk: “The tests themselves have a false negative rate … of about 2 percent,” meaning some infected mothers may be incorrectly cleared. Because of these gaps, he argued, universal newborn vaccination has been an essential safeguard.
Trump praised the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices on Friday after the panel voted 8–3 to lift its long-standing recommendation that infants receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth. Under the proposed change, only infants born to mothers who test positive would be automatically vaccinated. Acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill must still approve the shift.
Gottlieb warned that the advisory panel’s credibility has been undermined since Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all previous members and installed new appointees over the summer. He said the committee now risks becoming “more symbolic.”
According to the CDC, hepatitis B spreads primarily through contact with infected blood or bodily fluids, and infants born to infected parents face significantly higher risks.
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