{"id":108776,"date":"2025-02-01T00:03:59","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T00:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/"},"modified":"2025-02-01T00:03:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T00:03:59","slug":"in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won’t take money from vaccine lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Win McNamee\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(WASHINGTON) — After a bruising round of confirmation hearings this week that left Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation in doubt, the nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services declared in a written statement to senators on Friday that, if confirmed, he will divest his financial stake in an ongoing civil lawsuit against a vaccine manufacturer.<\/p>\n

Kennedy\u2019s commitment to walk away from the potential windfall is a major reversal for the nominee, who in his ethics plan submitted to federal officials earlier this month told lawmakers he was entitled to those proceeds so long as the U.S. government wasn\u2019t involved.<\/p>\n

Democrats had seized on Kennedy\u2019s financial stake in the lawsuit, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., warning that he could use his perch in government to make it easier for lawyers \u2013 including himself \u2013 to sue vaccine manufacturers and drug makers in court.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges marketing fraud against pharmaceutical company Merck for its HPV vaccine, Gardasil, which Merck denies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that the vaccine has been proven safe, with more than 160 studies finding no concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cKennedy can kill off access to vaccines and make millions of dollars while he does it,\u201d Warren said at Kennedy\u2019s confirmation hearing on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids might die, but Robert Kennedy will keep cashing in,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Kennedy struggled to lock-up conservative support for his nomination after testifying this week. On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal\u2019s right-leaning editorial board praised Warren, writing that her questioning “expose[d]” Kennedy.<\/p>\n

The next day, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy said he was \u201cstruggling\u201d with Kennedy\u2019s nomination, noting at one point that Kennedy was \u201cfinancially vested in finding fault with vaccines.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kennedy told senators in his testimony Thursday that he was giving away his rights to the fees in the lawsuit against Merck. However, it was unclear whether he misspoke because his ethics agreement still maintained that he was entitled to the fees.<\/p>\n

In written answers provided to the Senate Finance Committee on Friday, Kennedy clarified that an amendment was forthcoming.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn amendment to my Ethics Agreement is in process, and it provides that I will divest my interest in this litigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Kennedy has earned millions of dollars in referral fees from law firms in the past for lawsuits unrelated to vaccines, including one involving a pesticide. He had not earned money yet from the Merck case, which only recently was taken up in civil courts.<\/p>\n

In his testimony, Kennedy said he wanted to retain the right to sue drug companies even if confirmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re asking me to not sue drug companies, and I am not going to agree to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2025, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Win McNamee\/Getty Images (WASHINGTON) — After a bruising round of confirmation hearings this week that left Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation in doubt, the nominee for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services declared in a written statement to senators on Friday that, if confirmed, he will divestRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"yoast_head":"\nIn major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won't take money from vaccine lawsuit - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won't take money from vaccine lawsuit - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2025-01-31\/Getty_013125_RFKJr.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ABC News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newstalklc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newstalklc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ABC News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ABC News\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7\"},\"headline\":\"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won’t take money from vaccine lawsuit\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\"},\"wordCount\":475,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"92.7 FM\",\"AM 1450\",\"CONVERVATIVE TALK\",\"DONE RIGHT\",\"KOBE\",\"Las Cruces\",\"LAS CRUCES CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO\",\"las cruces talk radio\",\"New Mexico\",\"NEWS TALK\",\"talk\",\"talk radio\"],\"articleSection\":[\"All News\",\"National News\",\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\",\"name\":\"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won't take money from vaccine lawsuit - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00\",\"description\":\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won’t take money from vaccine lawsuit\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/\",\"name\":\"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE\",\"description\":\"Talk Done Right\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization\",\"name\":\"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/newstalklc\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcv85Bxj9WRRnL0O3xii6IQ\/videos\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7\",\"name\":\"ABC News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ABC News\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/author\/abcnews\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won't take money from vaccine lawsuit - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","description":"TALK, DONE RIGHT","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won't take money from vaccine lawsuit - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","og_description":"TALK, DONE RIGHT","og_url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/","og_site_name":"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC","article_published_time":"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2025-01-31\/Getty_013125_RFKJr.jpg"}],"author":"ABC News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newstalklc","twitter_site":"@newstalklc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ABC News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/"},"author":{"name":"ABC News","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7"},"headline":"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won’t take money from vaccine lawsuit","datePublished":"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/"},"wordCount":475,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization"},"keywords":["92.7 FM","AM 1450","CONVERVATIVE TALK","DONE RIGHT","KOBE","Las Cruces","LAS CRUCES CONSERVATIVE TALK RADIO","las cruces talk radio","New Mexico","NEWS TALK","talk","talk radio"],"articleSection":["All News","National News","News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/","name":"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won't take money from vaccine lawsuit - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-01T00:03:59+00:00","description":"TALK, DONE RIGHT","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/in-major-reversal-kennedy-tells-senators-he-wont-take-money-from-vaccine-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In major reversal, Kennedy tells senators he won’t take money from vaccine lawsuit"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/","name":"FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE","description":"Talk Done Right","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#organization","name":"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2019\/12\/official-news-talk-square-2.png","width":1024,"height":450,"caption":"News Talk 92.7 and AM 1450 KOBE"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NewsTalkLC","https:\/\/twitter.com\/newstalklc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCcv85Bxj9WRRnL0O3xii6IQ\/videos"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/bfa4e6a14d1fcf4a939c3260298ef5b7","name":"ABC News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fba9c0649b69c3d5b53142437429a66?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ABC News"},"url":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/author\/abcnews\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}