Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell issued a clear warning on Friday robert f kennedynewly elected President Donald Trump choose to lead Department of Health and Human Services, after The New York Times reported that one of Kennedy's top advisers had petitioned to revoke the clearance of a polio vaccine And many other shots.
“Anyone seeking Senate consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the possibility of being associated with such efforts,” McConnell said in a statement.
McConnell, A polio The survivor condemned efforts to “undermine public confidence in proven cures” such as the polio vaccine.
McConnell said, “The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and fulfilled the promise of eradicating a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in a proven cure are not only uninformed – they are dangerous.”
McConnell credited “the miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother's love” with saving him from paralysis when he was two years old, and he praised the “miracle” of the “saving power of the polio vaccine” for millions of people. praised. Of the children who come after that.
Times article The focus focused largely on the work of attorney Aaron Siri for the nonprofit Informed Consent Action Network, or ICANN, which filed a petition In 2022, the Food and Drug Administration “sought the FDA to suspend or withdraw approval” of Sanofi Pasteur's inactivated polio vaccine, known as IPOL.
Siri is serving as an advisor to the transition team for Kennedy, who, if confirmed by the Senate, will Oversee FDA and other public health agencies in the country.
Siri called the Times article a “hit piece” that was not connected to the “legitimate” concern at the center of the petition filed for ICANN.
“ICAN's petition, filed in 2022, appropriately requests that the FDA, per federal law, require an appropriate clinical trial for IPOL prior to licensure,” Siri said. Posted On X.
The Times report on Siri's work sparked a new backlash against Kennedy. democratEven those who have criticized Trump for months On his relationship with Kennedy.
As HHS Secretary, Kennedy would have done important direct rights As the country's health secretary, she and her FDA commissioners will also oversee how vaccines are studied, approved and recommended in the US. have been initiated against.
Kennedy himself has said that he will not impose sanctions vaccines And he has tried to distance himself from the “anti-vaccine” label, calling for further study of the shots. He recently resigned as president of Children's Health Defense, a non-profit organization. found over the years Happen spreading misinformation Overcoming fears about vaccines.
President-elect Donald Trump has promised to listen to Kennedy, saying he might be willing to get rid of some vaccines “if I think it's dangerous.”
Trump said in an interview, “We're going to have a big discussion. Autism rates are at a level that no one ever thought was possible. If you look at the things that are happening, there are a few reasons why There is nothing.” Interview In a Time magazine article published this week, he was asked whether he would sign off on Kennedy's move to end childhood vaccination programs.
Extensive medical research has shown conclusively that vaccines don't be the reason autism.
Siri's petition to ICANN has not seen much progress at the FDA since it was filed in 2022. This is one of several legal efforts Siri has filed for groups against multiple shots, including a petition in 2020 On hepatitis B vaccines.
in 2023 Letter Responding to the polio petition, the agency's top vaccine official, Dr. Peter MarxWrote that the FDA “has been unable to reach a decision on your petition because it raises issues requiring further review and analysis by agency officials.”
Siri's petition targets IPOL, the only “single-antigen” polio vaccine currently available. recommended Vaccine approved for use in America in the 1990s,
Many children who receive vaccination for polio often do not receive IPOL, but rather one of several. combination vaccines Which mixes a harmless version of poliovirus with other recommended antigens for various vaccine-preventable diseases.
CDC They say IPOL is used “primarily as a travel vaccine for adults.” The agency states that “the body of scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports the safety of polio vaccines”.
Since Kennedy took charge at HHS, Siri has indicated plans to file more petitions to the FDA.
“It would help if there were outsiders attacking from the outside. For example, the FDA takes action on petitions. If you want to license a product, you have to petition them. If you want someone To get a product recalled or reevaluated, you usually often have to petition them,” Siri told ICAN founder and former Kennedy campaign spokesman Dale Bigtree. podcast Last month.
“Someone from outside needs to petition for them,” Siri said.
Contributed to this report.