Warren, Senators Investigate RFK Jr.’s Unresolved Financial Conflicts, Question Whether His Family is Profiting from Bogus Vaccine Lawsuits

After Senate pressure, RFK Jr. handed over his stake in vaccine lawsuits to his son Text of Letter (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.) opened a new investigation into whether Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s (RFK Jr.) family may be financially benefiting from a $50 million anti-vaccine settlement that his actions as Secretary could have influenced. In June, Merck & Co., Inc (Merck) announced that the company would pay $50 million to settle more than 200 lawsuits regarding the use of Gardasil, a safe, effective vaccine that prevents multiple types of cancer. The settlement covers lawsuits for which Secretary Kennedy was listed as the attorney of record and cases represented by Secretary Kennedy’s former employer, Wisner Baum. Secretary Kennedy’s son is currently employed at the same firm. “This settlement appears to reinforce a lucrative and dangerous playbook – litigators with ties to anti-vaccine organizations sue drug companies with scientifically dubious claims and undermine trust in vaccines and America’s public health as a result,” wrote the senators . During his confirmation process last year, Secretary Kennedy revealed he was entitled to — and initially planned to keep — a 10 percent fee from settlements tied to cases he referred to Wisner Baum for the Gardasil lawsuit. “This arrangement was alarming,” said the lawmakers , warning that Secretary Kennedy could influence public perception of Gardasil’s safety, and in turn, the outcome of the lawsuits “by publishing unfounded anti-vaccine information, influencing Merck’s interest in a settlement, or adding unproven injuries to the vaccine injury table.” After significant pressure from Senator Warren and other lawmakers, Secretary Kennedy agreed to transfer his stake in the Gardasil cases to his son, a move legal experts have called “a loophole” in federal ethics law. Secretary Kennedy refused to take any further steps to divest the Gardasil stake from his family. “Now, it appears that your son could stand to gain millions of dollars from Merck’s recent settlement agreement, raising fresh concerns about conflicts of interest,” wrote the lawmakers. Secretary Kennedy has refused to recuse himself from various communications related to Gardasil and from making decisions related to the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program — even while his former employer seeks awards from the program in dozens of cases. He has also refused to decline compensation from vaccine injury lawsuits. “Merck’s settlement focuses renewed scrutiny on your potential unresolved conflicts of interest as Secretary…The settlement – and the ongoing questions about whether you or your immediate family will benefit from it – raise further serious questions about any role HHS may have played in influencing the lawsuit’s outcome,” said the senators . The lawmakers asked Secretary Kennedy to reveal whether he played any role in the settlement, how many of the Gardasil cases covered by the settlement he referred to Wisner Baum, and how much money he has received from vaccine injury lawsuits while serving as HHS Secretary by August 11, 2026. Senator Warren has led Senate oversight on RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine agenda and conflicts of interest as HHS Secretary: In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Markey (D-Mass.), and Alsobrooks (D-Md.) pressed RFK Jr. on his proposed overhaul of the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which could threaten the domestic vaccine supply, undermine public health, and potentially enrich Secretary Kennedy’s family and close allies. In June 2025, Senator Warren (D-Mass.), on the eve of a key committee meeting, slammed RFK Jr. for his “reckless” and “shortsighted” decision to fire all 17 independent members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and replace them with eight members who appear to be hand-picked to advance RFK Jr.’s own anti-vaccine agenda. In February 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)wrote to RFK Jr., then-nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, pressing him to urgently resolve his serious conflicts of interest related to his stake in Gardasil lawsuits. In January 2025, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) questioned RKF Jr. , then-nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), about his dangerous conflicts of interest and record of profiting from anti-vaccine conspiracies. ###