Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lawyer called a New York Times report “misleading” after it claimed he asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke the polio vaccine approval. Attorney Aaron Siri acknowledged filing a “polio vaccine petition” on behalf of a client but denied any involvement from Kennedy.
He said it was an attempt to “derail” Kennedy’s potential confirmation as the Department of Health and Human Services head.
“All of this is intended for one purpose — they are desperately trying to derail Mr. Kennedy’s potential confirmation,” Siri said during an appearance on NewsNation.
Report claims Siri wants polio vaccine removed from market
Siri disputed the Times’ suggestion that he wanted to remove the polio vaccine from the market. The article claimed Siri petitioned the government to revoke the polio vaccine’s approval.
The article shared Siri’s broader campaign against vaccines. It noted that Siri filed petitions to pause the distribution of 13 other vaccines.
Quoting Siri, the article said that while he opposes mandating vaccines, he does not want to take vaccines away from those who choose to receive them.
Siri denies petition claims
Siri denied that his petition, filed on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), would have resulted in a nationwide halt to the polio vaccine.
“The claim the Times is making, that somehow this petition would have left Americans without a polio vaccine, is categorically false,” Siri said. “They knew it was false when they published it. They intended to mislead the country, and that’s what they accomplished.”
Siri is not directly involved in the polio vaccine petition but serves as legal representation for ICAN.
The petition asked the FDA to “publicly release documentation sufficient to establish that the aluminum content in each ‘subject vaccine’ is consistent with the amount provided in its labeling.”
If the FDA cannot comply, ICAN requested that the administration “pause distribution of each subject vaccine until it can provide the documentation.”
Clarifying the petition’s goal
Siri clarified the goal of the petition was never to remove the polio vaccine from the market.
“ICAN does not want, and never expected, the vaccine to be withdrawn. This is about choice, informed consent. That’s the point,” he said.
Although Kennedy was not involved in the petition, his stance on vaccines has been a focal point of news coverage. Kennedy recently stated that he is not anti-vaccine but has been highly critical of certain vaccines in the past.
Republican senators said Kennedy must address these remarks during his confirmation hearings. Some GOP lawmakers are even calling for Kennedy to fire Siri over the petition’s controversy.
