ALSOBROOKS, WARREN, AND SENATORS INVESTIGATE RFK JR.’S UNRESOLVED FINANCIAL CONFLICTS, QUESTION WHETHER HIS FAMILY IS PROFITING FROM BOGUS VACCINE LAWSUITS

July 30, 2026

Text of Letter (PDF)

WASHINGTON, DC - As reported in The Hill, U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), 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 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 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 Alsobrooks was the first Senator to call on RFK Jr. to resign or be fired. She has also led the Senate on oversight of RFK Jr's dangerous actions and rhetoric

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