(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Today, 314 Action and Protect Our Care held a virtual press conference ahead of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s anniversary this Friday, marking his first year in office as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). 314 Action President Shaughnessy Naughton was joined by Protect Our Care President Brad Woodhouse, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Congresswoman Kim Schrier (WA-08), Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, and Dr. Georges C. Benjamin.
Today also marks the deadline for RFK Jr. to respond to a public letter from Democratic senators calling on him to answer questions about his ties to vaccine injury lawsuits and address whether he, his family, and his associates will profit off planned changes to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Speakers spotlighted how RFK Jr. is “running wild” as HHS Secretary. Over the past year, he has made America sicker, hollowed out the CDC and used his position to line his pockets.
Excerpts from speaker remarks are below:
Shaughnessy Naughton, 314 Action President
“RFK Jr’s ties—financial ties to the anti vaccine industry that he has, you know, frankly, profited off of for decades…We are still calling on him to clarify, what—if any—financial advantages he has by continuing this pursuit of undermining vaccine safety and vaccine use in this country. RFK Jr. is a liability to the Republican Party, and we are going to hold every elected official who supports him accountable.”
Brad Woodhouse, Protect Our Care President
“In one year, RFK Jr. has made America sicker. He’s let measles get a foothold in the US again, he continues to undermine the efficacy of the measles vaccine. He’s undermined public trust in vaccines. He’s promoted dangerous conspiracy theories. He’s installed quacks in key positions that wreak havoc on our nation’s public health and infrastructure…the idea that this charlatan would make America healthy and healthy again is BS, and it always was.”
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, (OR-D)
“RFK Jr. is up to his eyeballs in conflicts of interest. For example, he is part of an anti-vaccine lawsuit. He handed his role in the case to a family [member]. So Robert Kennedy Jr.’s family profits over the lawsuit. A conflict of interest, a major one. That’s not the kind of person who should be in this position, I believe you ought to resign.”
Congresswoman Kim Schrier, Representative of Washington’s 8th Congressional and pediatrician
“Kids with measles, they’re miserable. They have high fevers and they can suffer long term brain damage. And you already know, they can get pneumonia and die, because we’ve seen deaths already this year in our country. Kids with pertussis, they cough so hard they vomit and they break ribs, and they cough for 100 days. And little babies who get pertussis or whooping cough, they just stop breathing. Babies with meningitis—they’re these babies who come in with fevers and they’re floppy and you don’t know what’s going on. And it used to be so common for us to do blood tests and urine tests and spinal taps on these babies with fevers and now, thanks to vaccinations, it is rare. But all of that is going to change if RFK Jr gets his way.”
Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, University of Pennsylvania Professor, oncologist and bioethicist
“And one of the goals of trying to get autism back on the agenda as a consequence of vaccines, is to say, well, you can now compensate if you have been vaccinated and got autism. That will bankrupt the compensation injury program, and the consequence will be that manufacturers will have to be on the hook for any injury that might be related to vaccination, and they will leave the vaccine business. You have to understand the vaccine business is a very, very low margin business because we sell them at very low cost. The reason people stay in the business is there has been guaranteed demand for every new case and for the recommendations made by the AC IP as well as the United States Preventive Services Task Force. The moment that demand becomes uncertain and goes away. Vaccine manufacturers going to get out of the business.”
Dr. Georges C. Benjamin, American Public Health Association Executive Director
“People are sicker and are dying sooner because of his policy and programmatic decisions. You know, in my mind, he’s failed in his key role as the nation’s chief health official, running the nation’s top public health agency. He’s lost the trust not only of his workers, but many surveys have shown that he’s losing the trust of the American people, not only in just vaccines, but in other areas as well. In a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey, even 25% of Republicans say they don’t trust him. And the proof of this, of course, he tells us we should not trust him as well.”
- Press Release