01/23/2025 --benzinga
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Donald Trump‘s nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, is facing scrutiny over his decision to retain financial interests in ongoing litigation against Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK) concerning its Gardasil vaccine, just ahead of his Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 29.The arrangement, disclosed in an ethics agreement and court documents, has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest as Kennedy seeks to lead federal agencies that regulate drugmakers.Citing the ethics filing, the New York Times writes that Kennedy, a prominent vaccine skeptic, will continue receiving fees from cases referred to Wisner Baum, a law firm suing Merck over its Gardasil vaccine. Gardasil is widely administered to adolescents to prevent cervical and other cancers. Over the past two years, Kennedy earned over $2.5 million from these referrals, a sum far ...Full story available on Benzinga.com