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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also disclosed that he had reached at least one settlement agreement with a company or individual that has accused him of “misconduct or inappropriate behavior.”
Jan. 31, 2025Updated 1:29 p.m. ET
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers in responses to questions released on Friday that he would divest his interest in litigation against a major HPV vaccine maker and would sign over the financial stake to an adult son.
He also disclosed he had reached at least one settlement agreement with a company or individual that had accused him of “misconduct or inappropriate behavior.” No other details were provided.
At his two confirmation hearings this week, several Democrat senators assailed his legal work, which included referrals for lawsuits against a vaccine maker. In the ethics agreement he provided to senators as part of the process to become the nation’s health secretary, he stated that he would keep his financial stake in cases that he referred to Wisner Baum, a personal injury law firm based in Los Angeles.
Mr. Kennedy told senators on Thursday that he had sent hundreds of cases to the firm for lawsuits against the drug maker Merck claiming injuries from the company’s Gardasil vaccine, which is given to prevent cervical cancer that can be caused by the human papillomavirus, or HPV.
After fiery grilling from senators, Mr. Kennedy said on Thursday that he would relinquish his financial stake, but did not elaborate.
On Friday, he provided additional details in his written answers to the senators’ questions: “An amendment to my ethics agreement is in process,” Mr. Kennedy wrote. “It provides that I will divest my interest in any such litigation via an assignment to my nondependent, adult son.”
