DONATE

Fact Sheet

RFK Jr. Profits from Anti-Vaccine Lawsuits

RFK Jr. has profited from vaccine injury litigation in the past. 314 Action was the first to uncover RFK Jr. ‘s financial ties to law firms suing vaccine makers during his confirmation hearing. While more children get sick or die from preventable diseases, RFK Jr.’s actions as Health and Human Services Secretary to change U.S. vaccine policy will potentially create a multi-billion anti-vaccine industry that could enrich him, his family and his closest allies.

Fact Sheet

  • RFK Jr. earned nearly $2.5 million dollars in referral fees from the law firm Wisner Baum, which is suing Merck over side effects related to the Gardasil HPV vaccine and had an agreement to receive a 10% contingency fee in these cases, if the plaintiffs win.
  • In January 2025, during his confirmation process for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. committed to divesting his financial interest in an ongoing lawsuit against Merck over its HPV vaccine, Gardasil. He stated he would amend his ethics agreement to assign his stake in the litigation to his adult son.
  • His son Conor Kennedy continues to be employed as an Associate at Wisner Baum. 
  • Before his 2024 presidential run, Kennedy also earned a six-figure salary from Children’s Health Defense, an organization he founded that frequently litigates against vaccine mandates. 
  • In January 2026, HHS announced major changes to the U.S. childhood vaccine schedule reducing the number of recommended routine vaccines from 17 to 11, removing flu, COVID-19, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and meningococcal vaccines from routine lists.
  • He later removed four of nine members from the Advisory Commission on Childhood Vaccines (ACCV). The panel was established under the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and is responsible for advising the Health and Human Services Secretary on which vaccines and injuries are eligible for compensation, funded by the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.  
  • The next step is to amend the Vaccine Injury Table to widen the criteria by adding more injuries. The last time the Vaccine Injury Table was revised was January 3, 2022. The table has not been amended since then.
  • It is expected the RFK Jr. will add autism or its symptoms to the injury table, which will lead to a dramatic increase in claims and effectively bankrupt the compensation fund. It is unclear what basis or scientific research RFK Jr. will use to justify this change, but advisors close to RFK Jr. have publicly said that’s what they are trying to do.
  • A paper by Harvard professor and retired drug product liability attorney Peter Grossi estimates that adding autism to the Vaccine Injury Table would expose the VICP fund to $100 billion in claims, far exceeding its current $4 billion dollar balance—opening the floodgates for vaccine injury lawsuits in state courts across the country.
  • On January 27, lawmakers sent RFK Jr. a letter demanding answers on how he plans to change the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program and if his family and associates will benefit. RFK Jr. They gave him until February 10 to respond.

Why it matters: If RFK Jr. moves forward with changes to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund Program, it will open the door for RFK Jr. and his family to make millions on vaccine injury lawsuits, while more children get sick and die from preventable diseases. This move will expose vaccine manufacturers to an avalanche of lawsuits in state courts, which could drive vaccine manufacturers out of the U.S. to avoid high litigation costs and result in nationwide vaccine shortages— that’s the ultimate goal.