Robert Kennedy vows to retain share of vaccine kits if confirmed as Trump health director
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Robert F Kennedy Jr says he will withhold from lawsuit against drug company Merck even if he becomes Donald Trump’s top US health official, ethics records show Any windfall gains received.
In an ethics agreement released Wednesday, Kennedy said he will retain a share of potential proceeds from a lawsuit brought by law firm Wisner Baum against Merck & Co.’s Gardasil vaccine, which protects against the human papillomavirus (HPV).
“I am entitled to 10 percent of the fees paid in contingency fee cases referred to the firm,” Kennedy, co-counsel at the law firm Wisner Baum, said in a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ top ethics czar.
Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who was appointed by Trump in November, said he has the authority to retain interest in cases that do not involve a “direct and substantial interest” in the United States or the country.
The ethics record was released on Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo announced that Kennedy’s confirmation hearing will be held next Wednesday.
Kennedy, the scion of a prominent Democratic political family, emphasized that he played no direct role in the Merck case and promised to avoid taking any action to influence the outcome if appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
This week, a Los Angeles court will hear the first in a series of cases alleging that Merck’s vaccine harms young people. Kennedy first became involved in legal action against Gardasil in 2018.
The former Democrat, who endorsed Trump last year after running for the White House independently, also said he would resign as an adviser to Weisnerbaum & Co.
In separate financial records filed Wednesday with the Office of Government Ethics, Kennedy disclosed $11.6 million in disclosed income over the past two years, including $8.8 million he earned while working as an environmental lawyer at Kennedy & Madonna. He promised to terminate his employment with the company.
Records show that Kennedy also received $856,559 in compensation from Wisner Baum during the same period. He also holds small stakes in biotech companies Crispr Therapeutics and Dragonfly Therapeutics, according to financial disclosures.
The disclosures highlight the controversy surrounding Trump’s decision to pick an outspoken vaccine skeptic and activist to oversee the U.S. health sector – including its 13 departments and agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health , these departments and agencies have broad influence over drug regulation in the United States.
Some in the Kennedy camp believe the postponement of Kennedy’s congressional hearings scheduled for this week is a sign that he may have difficulty winning approval from key health and finance committees whose support he needs before a full vote can be held. .
Some senators have raised questions about his record on issues such as vaccines and abortion.
The lawsuit against Merck over Gardasil is one of several high-profile anti-vaccine lawsuits in which Kennedy has been involved. The vaccine is scheduled to be distributed by the end of 2022, according to official statistics. Certain high-risk types of HPV can cause cervical cancer.
Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment. Merck said: “Plaintiffs’ allegations are without merit and we remain committed to vigorously defending against them.”
