Kennedy queries over suit litigation
Group of senators want explanation for vaccine filing conflicts
By: Dan Levine
Reuters
..... A group of U.S. senators said Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr's recent explanation for how the disposed of a financial stake in litigation involving Merck's Gardasil vaccine conflicts with earlier answers he gave in written testimony and federal ethics filings, a letter reviewed by Reuters shows.
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The letter, sent on August 24 [2026] by four Democratic senators, notes that Merck earlier this year [2026] agreed to pay $50 million to settle litigation over Gardasil, which prevents cancers caused by the human papillomavirus.
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Before becoming helaht secretary last year, [2025] Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, was an attorney of record in some of the cases. As helaht secretary, Kennedy oversees multiple health agencies that regulate and pay for vaccines. After his nomination by Trump, Kennedy initially said he intended to keep a 10% fee of any settlement involving Gardasil cases he referred to the Wisner Baum law firm, which has represented dozens of plaintiffs.
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Met with concerns from Democratic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and other lawmakers during the confirmation process, Kennedy then said he would hand over his financial interest in vaccine litigation to a son. Last month, [07/2026] the senators asked whether Kennedy's son received the health secretary's share of the Gardasil fees, and if so, how much money that represents. They wanted answers to why Kennedy did not commit to recuse himself from U.S. helaht agency decisions involving Gardasil, or other policymaking around vaccine litigation.
..... In response, Kennedy said in a social media post earlier this month [08/2026] that neither he nor anyone else in his family have "received a penny" from the Gardasil settlement. Before taking office, Kennedy said he "relinquished any interest in potential Gardasil fees back to the Wisner Baum law firm.
..... Kennedy also accused Warren, along with media outlets including Reuters, of :inventing lies" to be smirch him for standing up to the pharmaceutical industry.
..... In the letter, Warren and three other lawmakers pointed to Kennedy's ethics filings and written answers provided to the Senate Finance Committee last year, [2025] in which the secretary said he would hand any Gardasil fee to his son. The senators' staff could find no subsequent fillings with different information, the letter said.
..... As HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
..... When asked last month, [07/2026] about the prior letter form lawmakers, an HHS spokespeople initially did not comment and then later pointed to Kennedy;s social media posting.