Skyline Happenings

A recent Senate confirmation hearing revealed RFK Jr.’s secret war against cancer prevention.

by Paul Offit (thanks to Ed M.)

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cancer. Every year, HPV causes about 20,000 cancers in women and 14,000 in men. For women, HPV is the only known cause of cervical cancer, accounting for about 11,000 cases and 4,000 deaths every year. For men, HPV is a common cause of head, neck, anal, and genital cancers.

The first vaccine to prevent HPV (Gardasil) was licensed in 2006. With the licensure of an HPV vaccine that protected against additional strains in 2014, the incidence of cervical cancer has dropped 62 percent over the past decade.

Perhaps no vaccine has been subjected to greater scrutiny. Dozens of studies have now shown that the HPV vaccine does not cause autoimmune or neurological diseases. But that hasn’t stopped Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from continuing to claim that it does. Since 1986, with the creation of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, claims of vaccine harm must first be filed through the Vaccine Injury Compensation (VICP). The claims are then reviewed by experts and lawyers. If the claims are supported by scientific studies, plaintiffs are compensated. For example, children who got polio from the oral polio vaccine, which was a rare but real consequence, are compensated. Or people who developed a neurological disease called Guillain-Barré Syndrome from the influenza vaccine are compensated. If claims aren’t supported by evidence, plaintiffs aren’t compensated.

The VICP reviewed evidence on HPV vaccine safety and concluded that claims that it caused autoimmune or neurological diseases weren’t credible. They rejected the claims. In response, RFK Jr. and his personal injury lawyer friends took their claims to civil court, where the rules are different. Now all lawyers need to do is find juries who are willing to ignore scientific evidence. Indeed, in the early 1980s, 18 companies made vaccines for American children. After a flood of lawsuits against the whooping cough vaccine that amounted to millions of dollars of settlements, vaccine makers left the business. This migration of vaccine makers occurred even though studies had clearly shown that the pertussis vaccine didn’t cause the harms claimed. By the end of the 1980s, only four vaccine makers remained, the rest driven out by lawsuits.

As a nominee for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), RFK Jr. was asked to report his financial conflicts. The report showed that he had earned more than $2.4 million from the personal injury law firm of Wisner Baum, which was suing Merck in civil court for its HPV vaccine. RFK Jr., who stands to make 10 percent of any fees awarded in cases he referred to the firm, calls Michael Baum “one of my closest friends.” Kennedy has a similar arrangement with Morgan and Morgan, another large, personal injury law firm. On his Facebook page, Kennedy wrote, “If you have been injured by Gardasil, call us.” During the past year, these HPV lawsuits were Kennedy’s primary source of income.

On January 29, 2025, during a Senate confirmation hearing before the Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D, MA) noted that, as head of HHS, RFK Jr. could rig the system in his favor. Warren pointed out that he could use his power to add compensable injuries to the VICP table, change court rules, and alter vaccine labelling. All these changes could benefit RFK Jr. financially. Warren asked, “Would you be willing to forgo a financial stake in all these lawsuits so that the decisions you make will not financially benefit you?” “No,” said Kennedy, “I will not.”

RFK Jr.’s actions, which if successful will make HPV vaccine less affordable and less available, will be a financial boon to him and his personal injury lawyer friends. The biggest loser will be women, who might soon be deprived of the single best way to prevent cancer