A lawyer advising Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slams a New York Times report last week that President Trump's Health and Human Services secretary nominee sought to revoke the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the polio vaccine. I am doing it.
“Contrary to hysterical media reports that the petition was aimed at ensuring the availability of the polio vaccine, the scope of the petition was very narrow,” said RFK Jr.'s close advisor, Shiri & Grimstad LLP partner Aaron Siri told Fox News. digital. “We are simply asking the FDA to require appropriate clinical trials to authorize a new polio vaccine for children.”
new york times reported on Friday Siri said he was “waging war” against all vaccines, but the report falsely claimed that “a petition is calling for the 'polio vaccine' to be phased out.” “By making the case as if there is only one polio vaccine, our client is leaving Americans with no option to get the polio vaccine.” Get vaccinated against polio. ”
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“In fact, this petition seeks to ensure the safety of one of the six existing licensed polio vaccines that we give children three doses before their first birthday. “It's something,” he said.
The report came just days before RFK Jr. headed to the Capitol this week to meet with senators to seek support for HHS approval.
This petition was filed in 2022 on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), not an individual action by Siri, asking the FDA to suspend the infant polio vaccine IPOL. asked to do so. ICAN's request stems from concerns that IPOL, approved by Sanofi in 1990, was approved based on pediatric clinical trials. F.D.A.evaluated safety just 3 days after injection.
Siri added that this is not the traditional polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin that many people are familiar with. Instead, it is a product that uses a different technology to grow the poliovirus on monkey kidney cells that have been genetically modified to replicate indefinitely, similar to cancer cells. Traces of these cells are present in each vaccine dose.
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Nurse Lydia Fulton administers the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and polio illnesses at Children's Primary Care Clinic in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday, April 28. preparing to administer a vaccine used to prevent , 2017. (Courtney Perry/Washington Post)
Another petition filed on behalf of ICAN in 2021 targets 13 pediatric vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants. The petition says peer-reviewed studies have found discrepancies between the aluminum levels in these vaccines and the amounts listed on FDA-approved labels. The petition asks the FDA to verify and release documentation proving the accuracy of the aluminum content, or stop distribution until it is resolved, but critics say the issue is too much to worry about when injected into infants. The company insists that the products it sells should not be controversial.
“Currently, political labels (pro-vaccine, anti-vaxxer) are insufficient to encompass realities such as medical ethics, regulatory capture, and the influence of corporate funding on health policy,” Siri said. . “We must be able to raise legitimate questions about vaccine safety, efficacy and policy without fear that any deviation from the idea of 'safe and effective' will be tainted with adjectives and outrage.”
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In the days after the media reported on Siri's petition, Trump and RFK Jr. said they supported the polio vaccine, although they did not specify which vaccine. As part of his “Make America Healthy Again'' (MAHA) slogan, RFK Jr. said in an interview during his 2024 presidential campaign that while he is skeptical of some vaccines, he supports the use of others. announced that it was doing so.
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Kennedy's transition press secretary, Katie Miller, said: “Mr. Kennedy believes that the polio vaccine should be made available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied.”
Meanwhile, President Trump said at a Mar-a-Lago press conference Monday morning that “everything should be on the table,” adding that he is “a big believer in the polio vaccine.”
Fox News Digital reached out to The New York Times for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
