The agency’s top vaccine regulator said that a review had found that the children were likely to have died “because of” the shots. But public health experts want to examine the data.
A Pennsylvania plant run by the company, ByHeart, was shut down this year after inspectors found mold, a leaking roof and more than 2,500 dead insects in a food production area.
The official, Dr. George F. Tidmarsh, a top regulator at the agency, said disagreements over a new program to rapidly approve medications had caused tensions with agency officials.
The president’s call for removal of the metal from childhood inoculations set off alarms. About half of shots for polio, whooping cough and other diseases would be affected.
The agency expanded use of an old drug as a treatment for some people with autism. The endorsement sent some customers scrambling to buy over-the-counter supplements with the same ingredients.
Susan Monarez, the head of the public health agency for barely a month, repeatedly told senators that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was ignoring science in undercutting vaccines.
Susan Monarez, the head of the public health agency for barely a month, repeatedly told senators that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was ignoring science in undercutting vaccines.