RFK Jr.’s lawyer pushed to ban polio vaccine, NYT reveals

The future of vaccinations in the U.S. appears to be in greater jeopardy. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has continued to signal that he and others in his camp, including his own lawyer Aaron Siri, they may try to remove him. certain vaccines from the market.

Friday’s New York Times published an extensive article detailing Siri’s legal history defending RFK and the anti-vaccine movement in general.Most importantly, Siri asked the government (specifically the Food and Drug Administration) to withdraw approval of the polio vaccine just two years ago. and that Siri personally advised RFK on potential positions at HHS.Although RFK’s nomination is certain won’t succeed, these developments are the latest to suggest that vaccines could be on the chopping block if Trump gets his man.

According to the Times, Siri also petitioned the FDA to pull the hepatitis B vaccine from the market and stop distribution of 13 other vaccines on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network, a nonprofit organization. championed the anti-vaccination movement (The group claims to defend “medical freedom”) since its emergence in 2016. Siri introduced other customers who also tried to subvert vaccine regulations or laws.

Siri often argues that these vaccines have been established with little evidence of their safety and effectiveness.In the case of polio and hepatitis B vaccines, he argues that they should be withdrawn until double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are conducted. Although this type of research is considered the gold standard of evidence, the safety of these and other vaccines has been consistently upheld by many different studies over the years testing a polio vaccine against a placebo would actively harm people given the known risks of such infections, which can include fatal or lifelong paralysis.

“You’re replacing theoretical risk with real risk,” Paul A., a vaccine expert at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told the Times. Offit: “The real risks are the diseases.”

While Siri’s arguments may have been made on behalf of his clients, he also personally advises RFK on possible candidates for the HHS staff if RFK’s nomination ends, the Times reported , and Siri reportedly quizzed the candidates on their views on vaccines.And RFK apparently came up with the idea of ​​Siri serving as the HHS’s general counsel, though Siri may prefer an outside role instead.

Some Republican members of Congress have avoid fully supports RFK and his views, while Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence defends urged his colleagues not confirm RFK (though only because he might be too pro-choice). So there’s at least a chance that RFK won’t be the next head of state. But at this point it’s anyone’s guess There will be dissenters.And if RFK is given ample opportunity to shape the nation’s public health, the loss of some vaccines remains a real possibility.

In an interview with Time Magazine has been released this week (Trump was chosen as the magazine’s Person of the Year), Trump was immune to vaccinations. He announced that he will have a “big discussion” with RFK about vaccines. And when asked if his future plans might include getting rid of some of the RFK-directed vaccines, he replied: ultimately very controversial.”