An adviser to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who voted in favor of a respiratory syncytial virus antibody for infants says that new data that has come to light indicates that the vote was based on presentations that omitted crucial information.
“It appears that this decision was based on manipulated data analyses,” Dr. Robert Malone, a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), said in a blog post on Aug. 20.
Malone and four other members of the panel in June voted to advise the CDC to recommend the antibody called clesrovimab for infants to try to prevent respiratory syncytial virus. Known as RSV, the virus typically causes mild symptoms such as a cold but can, in some cases, lead to severe problems, and, according to the CDC, is a leading cause of infant hospitalization….