RFK Jr. says he’ll keep making money on anti-vaccine lawsuits while in office
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he will continue earning money from lawsuits once he is confirmed to run the Department of Health and Human Services, so long as the lawsuits don’t directly involve the United States or the federal government’s interests.
The longtime environmental lawyer turned politician wrote in an ethics agreement that he would keep receiving fees under a previous consulting agreement with WisnerBaum, a law firm that has an ongoing case against prescription drug maker Merck over the Gardasil vaccine.
Kennedy does not directly represent plaintiffs in the firm's cases, but receives fees for referring cases. Kennedy played a key role in creating the mass lawsuit against Merck over the Gardasil vaccine from plaintiffs who allege it had severe side effects, according to Reuters. WisnerBaum is now one of the lead lawyers, according to its website.
“I am entitled to receive 10% of fees awarded in contingency fee cases referred to the firm,” Kennedy wrote in the ethics agreement. “I am not trying these cases, I am not an attorney of record for the cases, and I will not provide representational services in connection with the cases during my appointment to the position of secretary.”
Gardasil is the only vaccine used in the U.S. to protect against human papillomavirus, which causes some cancers. The Centers for Disease Control, which is under the umbrella of the Department of Health and Human Services, calls the vaccine safe and effective and recommends that children start getting the vaccine between 9 and 11 years old.
"An overwhelming body of scientific evidence, including more than 30 years of research and development along with real world evidence generated by Merck and by independent investigators, continues to support the safety and efficacy of our HPV vaccines," Merck said in a statement to Paste BN.
Kennedy has a long history of repeating false and misleading claims about vaccines, including the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism, claiming that the coronavirus vaccine is deadly, and blaming a measles outbreak on the measles vaccine. As the leader of the Department of Health and Services, he would oversee the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates drugs including Gardasil.
WisnerBaum said in December it expected the lawsuit to go to trial this month, and Merck told Paste BN on Thursday the case is currently in the jury selection phase. The firm did not immediately respond to Paste BN’s inquiry for comment. Neither did the Trump-Vance transition team.
Kennedy wrote that he may be entitled to future recoveries in cases that the United States “does not have a direct and substantial interest.” In cases where the government does have those interests, he said he would assign those fees a family member who is not a dependent.
In his June 2023 ethics disclosure from when he was a presidential candidate, Kennedy said he received $1.6 million in consulting fees from WisnerBaum and had been a consultant with the firm since 2016.
Kennedy also wrote in his ethics agreement he would divest any interests he has in receiving fees from claims against the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, a program that allows people to file claims against the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to receive money if they are found to have been injured by vaccines.
This story was first reported by the New York Times.