John Wong, who is also a primary care physician at Tufts Medical Center, was notified of his termination from the US Preventive Services Task Force via a letter dated May 11, according to published reports.
The task force’s co-chair, Esa Davis, a professor at the university of Maryland’s School of Medicine, was fired too.
Wong did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Globe. He told Reuters that he and Davis have submitted applications to rejoin the panel.
Kennedy has spent the last year undermining the panel’s work. He canceled all of their regularly scheduled meetings and has not named replacements for five members whose terms expired in December. The panel typically has 16 members, but is now down to eight. It was first formed in 1984.
The task force decides what insurers do and don’t cover when it comes to preventive medical care. Its members are volunteer medical experts who are chosen by the health secretary. Senate confirmation is not required.
According to a copy of the letter viewed by CNN, Kennedy wrote, “The Department is taking this step to help protect the Task Force and preserve confidence in the continuity and durability of its work.”
Wong and Davis were removed “to avoid uncertainty that could jeopardize the validity of future Task Force actions,” the letter said.
The Department of Health and Human Services oversees the task force, which relies on funding from its Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Department officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.
The department is accepting applications for the task force through May 23.
Wong’s term wasn’t set to expire until March 2027; Davis’s a year later in March 2028.
Some medical experts say delaying the panel’s work in turn delays updates to guidelines for important screening for cancer, heart disease, and other ailments.
In July, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics joined more than 104 other leading healthcare organizations, in a letter to Congressional health committees “to protect the integrity” of the task force.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.