Attorney for RFK Jr. blasts 'hysterical' media report as distortion of HHS pick's views on vaccines

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It’s ‘false’ to say the petition sought to revoke ‘the polio vaccine’, says attorney

Siri & Glimstad LLP's Aaron Siri says the media isn't telling the full story regarding RFK, Jr. and the polio vaccine petition on ‘Fox News @ Night.’

An attorney advising Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's secretary nominee for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is slamming a New York Times report this week that claimed he sought to revoke the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval for the polio vaccine.

"Contrary to hysterical media reports that the petition sought to make sure no polio vaccines would be available, the scope of the petition was quite narrow," Aaron Siri, a close RFK Jr. adviser and partner at Siri & Glimstad LLP, told Fox News Digital. "It simply asked the FDA to require a proper trial for licensure for children of a novel polio vaccine."

The New York Times reported Friday that Siri is "waging a war" against all vaccines, but Siri said the report "falsely claimed the petition sought to eliminate" the polio vaccine, "as if there is only one, and that our client sought to leave Americans without the choice to get vaccinated for polio." 

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"In reality, the petition sought to ensure the safety of one of the six existing licensed polio vaccines that we inject into our children three times before their first birthday," he said.

The report came just days before RFK Jr. headed to Capitol Hill this week to meet with Senators, seeking support for his HHS confirmation.

The petition, filed in 2022 on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) and not as an individual action by Siri, urged the FDA to suspend the polio vaccine IPOL for infants and children. ICAN's request stems from concerns that IPOL, licensed in 1990 by Sanofi, was approved based on pediatric trials.

This is not the traditional polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk or Albert Sabin that many people are familiar with, Siri added. Instead, it is a product utilizing a different technology, where the polio virus is grown on monkey kidney cells that have been genetically altered to replicate indefinitely, similar to cancer cells. Traces of these cells are present in each vaccine dose.

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Nurse Lydia Fulton prepares to administer the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine as well as a vaccine used to help prevent the diseases of diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and polio at Children's Primary Care Clinic in Minneapolis, MN, Friday April 28, 2017.  (Courtney Perry/For the Washington Post)

Another petition filed on behalf of ICAN in 2021 addresses 13 childhood vaccines containing aluminum adjuvants. According to the petition, a peer-reviewed study found discrepancies between the aluminum levels in these vaccines and the amounts listed on their FDA-approved labels. The petition calls on the FDA to verify and publicly release documentation proving the accuracy of the aluminum content or halt distribution until resolved — an issue critics say should not be controversial for products injected into infants.

"Currently, political labeling (pro-vaccine, anti-vaccine) is inadequate to encompass the realities of medical ethics, regulatory capture, and the influence of corporate money on health policy," Siri said. "We must be able to raise valid questions about vaccine safety, efficacy and policy without fear that any deviation from the mantra 'safe and effective' will be smeared with epithets and outrage."

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In the days since media outlets have reported about Siri's petition, both Trump and RFK Jr. have said they support the polio vaccine, without specifying which one. RFK Jr. has expressed his skepticism of some vaccines, while supporting the use of others, in interviews during his 2024 presidential campaign run as part of his "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) slogan. 

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"Mr. Kennedy believes the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied," Katie Miller, the transition spokeswoman for Kennedy, said in response. 

Meanwhile, Trump said "everything should be looked at," adding that he's a "big believer in the polio vaccine," during a Mar-a-Lago press conference Monday morning. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the New York Times for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.

In a lengthy statement to Fox News Digital, IPOL developer Sanofi said: "Sanofi’s vaccines undergo continuous monitoring and evaluation to ensure their safety and effectiveness. These efforts reflect our commitment to protecting public health and maintaining the trust of healthcare providers and patients worldwide. IPV vaccines have been widely used showing not only to provide an acceptable safety profile but also high levels of long-lasting immunity. The absence of polio outbreaks in countries using uniquely IPV vaccines, such as in North America or Europe is a testament of their contribution to polio eradication.

"The international clinical development of IPOL began in 1977 and included more than 300 pre-and post-licensure clinical trials, observational studies, or interventional studies using Sanofi’s IPV vaccine either as a stand-alone vaccine or as a component of inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine-containing combination vaccines. More than 280 million people have been vaccinated worldwide and, more recently, the safety of the IPV vaccine in IPOL was tested in clinical trials which collected data from 7 and 14 days of immediate, prospective safety monitoring, as well as 6-month safety follow-up.  Over nearly 50 years of clinical studies and safety monitoring, the safety profile of IPOL in all populations is well studied and understood. 

"Neither the original clinical development program of IPOL, nor the more recent combination vaccines clinical development program, or the global passive surveillance of adverse events following IPOL or any combination vaccines containing it have revealed any safety signal concerning the use of IPOL in pediatric or older populations."