Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would retain legal fees earned from litigation against drugmaker Merck if he is confirmed as President Donald Trump’s secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to a federal ethics disclosure….
Kennedy, who ended his own presidential campaign last year to endorse Trump, is set for a U.S. Senate hearing on his nomination next week. As HHS secretary, Kennedy would wield enormous influence over the pharma industry, and the nomination is opposed by several health and consumer organizations over Kennedy’s role in sowing doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
Reuters reported [that] Kennedy played an instrumental role in organizing mass litigation against Merck over its human papillomavirus shot Gardasil. One of the main lawyers suing Merck, Michael Baum, told Reuters that Kennedy “taught us” how to pursue Gardasil claims outside a special government-run vaccine compensation program that limits pharma company liability.
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In a separate ethics disclosure, Kennedy reported at least $857,000 from [Chuch of Scientology law firm) Wisner Baum, and did not specify which cases generated that income. Kennedy has collaborated with WisnerBaum on litigation over Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup.
