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Robert F Kennedy Jr says he will keep his share of any windfall from a lawsuit against drug company Merck even if he becomes Donald Trump’s top US health official, ethics records show.
In an ethics agreement released Wednesday, Kennedy said it would keep its share of potential winnings from a case brought by law firm Wisner Baum against Merck’s Gardasil vaccine, which prevents the human papillomavirus, known as HPV.
“I am entitled to 10 percent of the fees awarded in contingency fee cases that are forwarded to the firm,” Kennedy, one of Wisner Baum’s counsels, said in a letter to the top ethics czar at the US Department of Health and Human Services. .
Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who Trump was chosen as the Secretary of Health in November, he said he had the right to retain interests in cases that did not involve the US or where the state did not have a “direct and substantial interest”.
The ethics records were released Wednesday when Mike Crapo, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, announced that Kennedy’s confirmation hearings would take place next Wednesday.
Kennedy, the scion of a famous Democratic political family, has stressed that he has no direct role in the Merck case and has vowed to avoid doing anything to affect the outcome if he is named secretary of Health and Human Services.
The first in a series of cases alleging young people were injured by Merck’s vaccine is being heard in a Los Angeles court this week. Kennedy first became involved in legal proceedings against Gardasil in 2018.
Former Democrat, who supported Trump last year, after making an independent run for the White House, he also said he would resign from his consulting role at Wisner Baum.
In separate financial disclosures filed Wednesday with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, Kennedy disclosed $11.6 million in reported income over the past two years, including $8.8 million from his work as an environmental attorney at Kennedy & Madonna. He promised to end his role at the company.
Kennedy also paid $856,559 from Wisner Baum in the same period, the records show. He also held small stakes in biotech companies Crispr Therapeutics and Dragonfly Therapeutics, according to financial filings.
The announcements underscore the controversy surrounding Trump’s decision to pick a vocal skeptic and vaccine campaigner to oversee the U.S. Department of Health — including its 13 departments and agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, which have enormous influence over the regulation of medicine in the USA.
The postponement of Kennedy’s congressional hearing, originally scheduled for this week, was seen by some in his camp as a sign that he may have trouble getting approval from the key health and finance committees, which he will need before a full Senate vote.
Some senators have raised questions about his record on vaccines and abortion, among other things.
The Gardasil lawsuit against Merck is one of several high-profile anti-vaccine lawsuits in which Kennedy has been involved. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Gardasil as a routine shot for 11- and 12-year-olds, with 160 million given by the end of 2022, according to official statistics. Certain high-risk types of HPV can cause cervical cancer.
Kennedy did not respond to requests for comment. Merck said, “Plaintiffs’ claims are without merit, and we remain committed to a vigorous defense of these claims.”
