RFK Jr. says hes resigned from anti-vaccine nonprofit as he seeks to become US health leader
Robert F.Kennedy Jr. is distancing himself from his anti-vaccine work as he seeks to become the leader of the nation’s top health agency under President Donald Trump, according to government ethics documents released Wednesday.Kennedy has pulled in roughly $10 million in income from his work over the past year, which includes speaking fees, leading an anti-vaccine nonprofit, and legal fees, and government ethics forms filed for his nomination show.He has millions of dollars more tied up in investments and other assets.If confirmed, he has promised to stop collecting fees on some of his vaccine lawsuits involving the U.S.
government.Kennedy is a lawyer who has worked on lawsuits involving environmental and vaccine injury claims against some of the country’s biggest companies.He also said he would forgo payment from claims against the U.S.
under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation program.A spokesperson for Kennedy did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday about the filing.As of December, Kennedy said in the filing that he is no longer serving as chairman or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, his nonprofit that launched lawsuits against the federal government over vaccines, including the authorization of the COVID-19 shot in children.He previously made a $326,000 salary for three months of work at the nonprofit in 2023.But he will still benefit in other ways from his anti-vaccine advocacy, which has spanned several years.
Compensation will continue to flow into Kennedy’s bank accounts from referral fees for legal cases that don’t involve the U.S.government, including fees he collects from a law firm that’s sued Merck over Gardasil, its human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer.
Last year, he made over $850,000 from the arrangement.He will also still get royalties from books he’s written, some of which have spread falsehoods about vaccine safety and other health issues.Kennedy said he exp...