Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) on Friday criticized “spurious disinformation that threatens the progress of life-saving medical advances.” The New York Times reported that a lawyer associated with Robert F. Kennedy has petitioned the government to revoke approval of the polio vaccine.
McConnell, a polio survivor, warned that “efforts to undermine public trust in proven cures are not only uninformed but dangerous.”
“Anyone seeking Senate approval to serve in the new administration would do well to avoid even the appearance of association with such efforts,” McConnell said in a statement, clearly referring to Kennedy, the president-elect Trump Choice to the head the Department of Health and Human Services.
The New York Times reported Friday that a lawyer assisting Kennedy in hiring federal health officials for the fresh Trump administration has petitioned the federal government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine.
The Times reported that attorney Aaron Siri has waged a fight against a number of vaccines and has filed a petition to stop the distribution of 13 more vaccines.
Siri, who represented Kennedy during his presidential campaign, filed the polio-related petition in 2022 on behalf of the Informed Consent Network.
The issue of banning polio vaccines deeply affects McConnell, who battled polio as a juvenile boy.
One of McConnell’s earliest memories is of being treated in Warm Springs, Georgia, the same place President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited throughout his life to find relief from the debilitating disease.
McConnell said he was spared the physical devastation suffered by Roosevelt and thousands of other Americans in the first half of the 20th century because of “modern medicine and a mother’s love.”
“From the age of two, a normal life without paralysis was only possible for me through the miraculous combination of modern medicine and a mother’s love. But for millions who came after me, the real miracle was the saving power of the polio vaccine,” he said.
“For decades, I have been proud to work with passionate advocates – from Rotary International to the Gates Foundation – and use my platform in public life to advocate for cures for future generations. “I have never shied away from confronting spurious disinformation that threatens the progress of life-saving medical advances, and I will not do so today,” he said.
McConnell’s statement could be a harbinger of a bitter fight over Kennedy’s nomination.
Kennedy, a longtime Democrat, founded the nonprofit group Children’s Health Defense, which says it works to end childhood health epidemics by eliminating toxic exposures.
It has been described by media organizations as an anti-vaccine advocacy group that has filed nearly 30 federal and state lawsuits over the past four years challenging vaccination mandates and other public health regulations.
If confirmed, Kennedy would oversee the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
However, Kennedy told NPR an interview in November that “we will not take away vaccines from anyone.”
But he also claimed that “the science on vaccine safety in particular currently shows major deficits.”
“We will ensure that these scientific studies are carried out and that people can make informed decisions about their vaccinations and their children’s vaccinations,” he promised.
