The former chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says the agency overseeing the panel suppressed its work, leaving primary care doctors without updated prevention guidance. In a commentary in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Michael Silverstein of Brown University wrote that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's director blocked the task force's final recommendation on cervical cancer screening in fall 2025, after a draft, a comment period, and hundreds of public comments had been completed.
Silverstein also said canceled meetings prevented members from voting on a recommendation for preventing cardiovascular disease through healthy lifestyle interventions. He wrote that the task force has not published a single recommendation since July 2025, meaning clinicians may rely on outdated evidence and patients may lose insurance coverage for effective services. He described HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as having "a particular disdain" for the task force and noted Kennedy canceled regular meetings beginning in March 2025.
According to MedPage Today's report, Kennedy later fired the two vice chairs, John Wong and Esa Davis, and in September 2026 appointed eight new members, including specialists in cardiology, radiology, AI, and health insurance. The AMA's president said the new slate departs from the task force's usual makeup of primary care and preventive medicine experts. Silverstein praised volunteer members for continuing to meet weekly during the cancellations and called them a model for resisting political pressure.