Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Friday publicly called for the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reject a vaccine advisory panel's recommendation to no longer administer doses of the hepatitis B vaccine to all newborns. Cassidy's plea came soon after the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 8-3 in favor of a new recommendation that hepatitis B vaccination for newborns be left to "individual-based decision-making" among parents and their health care providers, something which members of panel noted already occurs. The vote states "it is suggested" that a hepatitis B vaccine dose be administered "no earlier than 2 months of age." Cassidy spoke out forcefully against changes to hepatitis B guidance, the preventable liver disease being a close issue for the longtime physician.