By Dan Levine and Mike Spector
(Reuters) – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would retain legal fees earned from litigation against drugmaker Merck (NSE:PROR) if he is confirmed as President Donald Trump’s secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to a federal ethics disclosure made public on Wednesday.
Kennedy, who ended his own presidential campaign last year to endorse Trump, is set for a U.S. Senate hearing on his nomination next week. As HHS secretary, Kennedy would wield enormous influence over the pharma industry, and the nomination is opposed by several health and consumer organizations over Kennedy’s role in sowing doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
Reuters reported last week that Kennedy played an instrumental role in organizing mass litigation against Merck over its human papillomavirus shot Gardasil. One of the main lawyers suing Merck, Michael Baum, told Reuters that Kennedy “taught us” how to pursue Gardasil claims outside a special government-run vaccine compensation program that limits pharma company liability.
Kennedy has an arrangement to earn 10 percent of fees awarded in contingency cases he refers to Baum’s firm WisnerBaum, according to a letter Kennedy wrote to an HHS ethics official released on Wednesday. If confirmed, Kennedy would retain that financial interest in cases that do not directly impact the U.S. government, the letter said.
Kennedy and Baum did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Merck declined to comment.
High-level U.S. government officials routinely disclose financial interests and potential conflicts during the nomination process.
Kennedy wrote that he is “not an attorney of record” for his WisnerBaum cases. However, Kennedy filed official court appearances in several Gardasil cases, including one set for trial in Los Angeles this week, court dockets show. As of Wednesday, Kennedy had not appeared to have withdrawn from them.
In a separate ethics disclosure, Kennedy reported at least $857,000 from WisnerBaum, and did not specify which cases generated that income. Kennedy has collaborated with WisnerBaum on litigation over Monsanto (NYSE:MON)’s weed killer Roundup.
The Gardasil lawsuits allege Merck had fraudulently advertised the vaccine as safe, overstating its benefits while concealing knowledge of dangerous side effects. Merck says the cases have no merit and that research supports the safety of its HPV vaccines.