Sandra Fryhofer MD - AMA Board of Trustees

02/17/2026

How dangerous is measles? An expert explains the serious complications parents should know—including immune amnesia that leaves kids vulnerable for years.

02/17/2026

RESTORING TRUST IN VACCINES:

The goal of a new collaboration between AMA and the Vaccine Integrity Project is to make sure the public has clear, consistent, science-based vaccine guidance they can TRUST.

For decades, physicians have relied on the CDC’s vaccine recommendations because they were based on real science, data, and careful review. However, recent changes were made to the childhood schedule, without any new scientific evidence or data to support these changes. This has created confusion for doctors and patients alike.

Here’s a link to my segment on CNN on February 16, 2026, with Dr. Michael Osterholm about this new collaboration:

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/f.io/0A_Xisbd__;!!AI0rnoUB!8YX3dOMOLwyiFmXc2Ynpuf09jNX7t3WSsFCVzYBTXXUfcr5vVZe6LV5IzuXJ_gNdvaqRS-F1FIgaQt-KvVabfd4$

02/10/2026

I am so proud that AMA is partnering with the Vaccine Integrity Project. It is our duty as health care professionals to work across medicine, science and public health to make sure the U.S. has a transparent, evidence-based process by which vaccine recommendations are made.

02/07/2026

Measles is highly contagious. It can lead to serious complications, even death. However, it’s preventable through vaccination.

Please, talk to your physician about the importance of vaccination as a safe and effective way to prevent this disease. High vaccination coverage is essential to protecting our patients, keeping the case counts low, and maintaining our measles elimination status.

https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-urges-public-get-vaccinated-against-measles-cases-rise

02/06/2026

I applaud the attached Annals of Internal Medicine opinion piece reminding physicians of the ETHICAL IMPERATIVE for medical advocacy against ICE’s actions, particularly as they have affected access to, and delivery of, health care.
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/ANNALS-25-03151

I am also so proud of our AMA Board Chair David Aizuss issuing an AMA statement on these issues.
https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-statement-immigration-enforcement-hospitals

These harms have touched my soul.

02/03/2026

Happy National Women Physician's Day!

Women make up 40% of AMA members.
(It is such an honor to be one of AMA's liaisons to the Women Physicians Section )

Women make up more than 40% of practicing physicians.

More than 50% of medical students are women.

The latest report from AAMC (the Association of American Medical Colleges) also reveals women now account for 50.2% of all U.S. medical residents, thus achieving a majority share for the very first time!

We have much to celebrate!

(Many thanks to Dr. Anna M. Brown for creating this graphic!)

01/26/2026

The science is clear: Vaccines among the most effective tools that we have for protecting health. Vaccines remain the best protection for keeping children and communities healthy.
That's why the AMA -along with twelve other medical organizations- endorsed the American Academy of Pediatrics 2026 Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule. This schedule recommends routine immunization for protection against 18 diseases.
It reflects the best available science and expert consensus and decades of real-world data demonstrating the life-saving impact of timely vaccination.

“Parents deserve clear, evidence-based guidance when making decisions about their children’s health. At a time when unprecedented changes to the federal vaccine schedule threaten decades of scientific progress, the AMA strongly supports the American Academy of Pediatrics' childhood and adolescent immunization schedule to keep children safe and healthy.” http://spr.ly/6185h6r95

01/24/2026

Polio is highly infectious. Humans are the only reservoir. Spread is via the f***l – oral and oral- oral routes. People are most infectious in the days immediately before and after the onset of symptoms.

Most people infected with polio don’t have any symptoms at all:
-75% are completely asymptomatic.
-Only about 25% develop clinical illness (usually diarrhea).
-Less than 1% suffer paralytic poliomyelitis.
This is why if one paralytic case is identified, there are likely to be hundreds to thousands of others who have likely been infected.

Remember the case of paralytic polio in New York that was reported in July 2022. The person affected was a young adult, immunocompetent, but had not received polio vaccination. Waste water testing in surrounding counties in New York revealed multiple sewer sheds that tested positive for polio.
Vaccine coverage evaluation at the zip code level in those counties was suboptimal.
Polio vaccination protects you.
https://www.ama-assn.org/press-center/ama-press-releases/ama-statement-acip-chairs-comments-polio-routine-vaccinations?utm_source=fbpage&utm_medium=social_ama&utm_term=19371940600&utm_campaign=Advocacy

12/19/2025

Recall that Secretary Kennedy fired all 17 of the experienced vaccine scientists and researchers that made up the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). ACIP develops vaccine policy for the nation. Kennedy replaced those experienced members with his own handpicked, vaccine-skeptic appointees, many of whom have no meaningful experience in vaccine development and implementation but have been immersed in a range of anti-vax initiatives for years.

At the December 2025 ACIP meeting, this new, handpicked group voted to remove the previous ACIP recommendation for a universal birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine. Hepatitis B is a devastating disease and often leads to other forms of liver disease, cirrhosis, and liver cancer. The hepatitis B recommendation is over three decades old, is one of the most successful vaccine programs in history, and has brought the U.S. almost to complete eradication of the disease.

On December 16, 2025, the politically appointed, non-physician acting CDC director approved this change.

The removal of the recommendation for a hep B birth dose by the new, vaccine-skeptic ACIP, and the approval of it by the acting CDC director, were not based on scientific data or evidence. Instead, it was all driven by anti-vax politics and ideology. It will lead to more disease and more heartache, suffering and death for America’s families and children.

I was proud to participate in the attached AMA statement opposing this reckless decision and commend it to your review. All physicians, and anyone who believes in public health, must speak out against this.

12/06/2025

https://www.facebook.com/100064832616919/posts/1319299040241171/?

Today’s action to weaken the birth-dose recommendation for the Hepatitis B vaccine disregards data supporting the effectiveness of the Hepatitis B vaccine, and creates confusion for parents about how best to protect their newborns.

Administering the birth dose is crucial for protecting children from both perinatal and early postnatal transmission of Hepatitis B virus – and preventing a lifelong condition that can lead to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, liver cancer, and death.

Families should be able to rely on the CDC for clear, evidence-based guidance when making important vaccination decisions for their children. We urge the CDC to reject this recommendation and uphold its commitment to science and public health. The consequences of failing to do so are too severe and the potential harm too great.

10/08/2025

At the September 2025 ACIP meeting, a vote on whether to postpone the birth dose of Hep B vaccine was tabled. A dose of Hep B vaccine at birth has brought the US within reach of Hepatitis B elimination. It is safe, effective, and has been recommended since 2018.

10/01/2025

HHS Secretary Kennedy’s new ACIP panel took away parental choice by removing the combination MMR-Varicella vaccine as an option for young children. The discussion around this decision was an unnecessary distraction used as a subterfuge to stoke fear and confusion about MMR vaccines and discourage vaccination.
This edition of my Medicine Matters series has more details about the September ACIP meeting: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/acips-integrity-erodes-during-september-session-2025a1000q1m