Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a clear warning Friday. Robert F. KennedyPresident-elect Donald Trump’s choose someone to lead to the Department of Health and Human Services after The New York Times reported that one of President Kennedy’s top advisers had filed a petition to revoke the recognition. polio vaccine And some other shots.
“Those seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the next administration should avoid even the appearance of being involved in such an effort,” McConnell said in a statement.
McConnell polio Survivors denounced efforts to “undermine public confidence in proven treatments” such as the polio vaccine.
“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and kept its promise to eradicate a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven treatments are not only uninformed but dangerous. ” McConnell said.
Mr McConnell credited a “miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother’s love” with saving him from paralysis when he contracted the disease at the age of two, and credited the “polio vaccine” that has saved millions of lives. He praised the “miracle” of “the power of salvation”. Of the children who came after him.
The Times article focuses primarily on the work of Aaron Siri, an attorney with the nonprofit organization Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN). ICAN petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to “require FDA to suspend or withdraw approval” of Sanofi Pasteur’s inactivated polio vaccine. , called IPOL.
Siri is an advisor to Kennedy’s transition team and, if confirmed by the Senate, would oversee the FDA and other public health agencies in the country.
Siri called the Times article a “hit piece” that had no bearing on the nature of the “legitimate” concerns at the heart of the petition he submitted to ICAN.
“ICAN’s petition, filed in 2022, makes a reasonable request to FDA to require adequate clinical testing of IPOL prior to approval, as required by federal law,” Siri told X. Posted.
The Times report on Siri’s workings sparked fresh backlash against Kennedy from Democrats who have criticized Trump for months over his relationship with Kennedy.
As HHS Secretary, Kennedy would do this. Important direct privileges As secretary of health, he and the FDA commissioner will discuss how government lawyers will respond to many of the legal battles Siri has launched against the FDA over vaccines. will be supervised.
Kennedy himself said he would not ban it. vaccine And they are trying to distance themselves from the “anti-vaccine” label, calling instead for more research into vaccines. He recently resigned as chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit that watchdog groups have long found to be spreading misinformation over vaccine fears.
President-elect Donald Trump said he might be open to retiring some vaccines “if we think they are dangerous” and promised to listen to Kennedy’s views.
“We’re going to have a big conversation,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine this week. “The autism rate is at a level that no one can believe. If you look at what’s going on, there’s something… There’s a reason,” he said. , when asked if he agreed with Kennedy’s move to end the childhood immunization program.
Extensive medical research has conclusively shown that vaccines do not cause autism.
Siri’s petition against ICAN has not made much progress with the FDA since it was filed in 2022. This is one of several legal efforts Siri has filed against anti-vaccination groups, including a 2020 petition over the hepatitis B vaccine.
In a 2023 letter responding to the polio petition, the agency’s vaccine director said: Dr. Peter Markswrote that the FDA was “unable to reach a decision on your petition because your petition raises issues that require further review and analysis by the agency.”
Siri’s petition targets IPOL, the only “single antigen” polio vaccine currently recommended for use in the United States. This vaccine was approved in the 1990s.
Many children who are vaccinated against polio are often not given IPOL, but rather a combination of the harmless poliovirus and some other antigen recommended for a variety of vaccine-preventable diseases. Get one of the vaccines.
The CDC says IPOL is “primarily used as a travel vaccine for adults.” The agency said “the body of scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports” the safety of the polio vaccine.
With Kennedy now in charge of HHS, Siri hinted at plans for further petitions to the FDA.
“It helps when you have an outsider, an outsider attacking you. For example, the FDA acts on petitions. If you want to get a license for a product, you have to petition. If they want a repeal or reassessment, they typically have to petition,” Siri told ICAN founder and former Kennedy campaign spokesperson Dell Bigtree on a podcast last month. told.
“Someone on the outside needs to petition them,” Siri added.
Nikole Killion contributed to this report.
