Senator Ron Wyden confronted Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. during a Senate Finance Committee hearing, accusing him of promoting indefensible vaccine positions. Kennedy denied encouraging CDC Director Susan Moranez to endorse vaccine guidance and said he never had a private meeting with her. The American Academy of Pediatrics warned that the advisory committee is being politicized; Kennedy countered that he depoliticized the committee and accused the academy of conflicts tied to major vaccine manufacturers and their journal Pediatrix. Wyden also criticized a Kennedy advisory panel's recent recommendation for an RSV treatment for infants, calling the position indefensible and warning it could endanger children.
I think the American Academy of Pediatrics is gravely conflicted. They get their biggest contributors are the four largest vaccine makers. They run a journal, Pediatrix, which they make a lot of money on, that is completely dependent on pharmaceutical companies. So I don't think I wouldn't put a big stake in what they say that benefits pharmaceutical interests. Senator, I didn't politicize it, but I de-politicize it, Kennedy argued.
Moranez wrote in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal that Kennedy encouraged her to go along with vaccine guidances even if she felt they went against scientific evidence. Wyden confronted Kennedy on Thursday about the accusation, which Kennedy denied, saying he's never had a private meeting with Moranez. During Wyden's questioning of Kennedy, he noted that the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned that the committee is being politicized, something Kennedy also denied, saying he's depoliticized the committee, arguing they are influenced by major pharmaceutical companies.
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