During a severe interrogation on Thursday by members of the Senate Health Committee on Plan to keep a financial share In major vaccine lawsuits, Robert F. said. Kennedy will give up his rights to the fees that may flow from it.
It appears to be a reflection of the details of the government’s ethics agreement that he presented to the Senate assertion sessions to become the country’s Minister of Health.
Only last week, Professional ethics The agreement, which he submitted to the members of the Senate, stated that he will retain a share in continuous litigation, which means that if it is confirmed, he may receive payments while supervising the vast American health bureaucracy that includes pharmaceutical companies. The financial disclosure determines that Mr. Kennedy will collect fees from Wisner Baum, a personal law firm in Los Angeles.
Mr. Kennedy said that he sent hundreds of customers to the company, which suits the Merck drug maker because of allegations that young people were injured from the company’s vaccine in Gardasil, aimed at preventing cervical cancer caused by HPV, or HPV. In the ethics statement, he mentioned: “I have the right to obtain 10 percent of the fees granted” in the cases in which he referred to Wesner Boom.
The lawmakers who think about his assertion on Wednesday and Thursday condemned the financial order, as many Democrats indicate that it represents a rooted conflict because it will obtain the financial decisions he made as a health secretary that guarantees pharmaceutical companies.
“All my rights were given any fees in this lawsuit,” Mr. Kennedy told Senatars on Thursday. Katie Miller, a spokeswoman for Mr. Kennedy, who asked to clarify, was asked to “not personally keep the fees.”
However, she did not answer additional questions about whether the arrangement with the law firm to pay Mr. Kennedy is 10 percent – depending on the results of any settlement or a lawsuit – it will be changed in some way to redirect any batch. It can be placed in a confidence or limited liability company of a kind, or directed to a family member. Money can also be separated into other attorneys in the company. (Connor Kennedy, son of Mr. Kennedy, Lawyer in Wesnner Boom.))
The US Government Ethics Office, which tends to agree to the candidates’ agreements, and Wesnner Pom did not immediately respond to the questions on Thursday. Ethics Office The government candidates reminded They must erase fundamental changes to their agreements.
Wednesday, a A wide -scale circular clip Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat Massachusetts, explained the ways in which Mr. Kennedy could affect lawsuits.
During her interrogation, Mr. Kennedy will not be committed to staying away from any revenues in Gardasil issues, saying he complied with the rules of ethics.
“Kennedy can kill access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while doing it,” said Ms. Warren. “Children may die, but Robert Kennedy can continue to spend.”
On Thursday, in the second session, Senator Patti Murray, a democratic in Washington, chose the thread, talking about the effectiveness of the HPV vaccine in preventing cervical cancer.
I have said that it already increases the risk of cervical cancer. Do you stand by these phrases? “Mrs. Murray asked.
Mr. Kennedy did not respond directly, saying that it was in front of a jury this week. Wisner Baum’s lawyers are a young claimant who claims to have suffered from a Circulation After receiving a HPV vaccine in a trial that started this month in California.
Senator Tim Kane, a democratic in Virginia, continued the interrogation line on Thursday, citing a number of positive studies on Gardyasil, which he said was made in Virginia. He asked about Mr. Kennedy’s decision to keep a share in litigation.
“How can people who need confidence in federal vaccine programs trust you to be independent and based on science when you will get great financing if the lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers are successful?” Mr. Kane asked.
This was the first time that Mr. Kennedy publicly revealed that he was giving up the fees.
General records indicate that Mr. Kennedy has received about $ 2.5 million of his work with Wisner Baum since 2022.
After Senator Warren’s strict questions about the potential conflicts that involve Mr. Kennedy’s financial interests in cases against drug makers, Wesnner Boom issued a statement saying that $ 2.5 million of payments were linked to the work of Mr. Kennedy in issues involved in the harmful herbal killer and other associated with Fearss Wilde. . The company said none of this amount was linked to the vaccine.
