NEW REPORT: Kennedy’s Lawyer Has Asked the F.D.A. to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine Arrow

Key Point: "The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death. That campaign is just one front in the war that the lawyer, Aaron Siri, is waging against vaccines of all kinds."

New York Times: Kennedy's Lawyer Has Asked the F.D.A. to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine

By: Christina Jewett and Sheryl Gay Stolberg

• The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death.
• That campaign is just one front in the war that the lawyer, Aaron Siri, is waging against vaccines of all kinds.
• But as he prepares for his confirmation hearing and plans a fresh health agenda, [RFK Jr.'s] continuing close partnership with Mr. Siri suggests that vaccine policy will be under sharp scrutiny. It is a chilling prospect to many public health leaders, especially those who recall the deadly toll of some vaccine-mediated diseases.
• Mr. Kennedy has privately expressed interest in having Mr. Siri serve in the Health and Human Services Department's top legal job, general counsel.
• During an appearance last weekend on NBC's "Meet the Press," Mr. Trump said he was open to a review of vaccines and autism.
• Yet Mr. Siri's ascent is concerning to some doctors, who note that it comes at a time of falling vaccination rates in the United States and a rise in cases of measles and whooping cough. His detractors say he twists snippets of science to make questionable claims that will deepen vaccine hesitancy, threatening the system of childhood vaccines that is credited with saving millions of lives.
• Mr. Siri has indicated he has no intention of stopping. This week, on behalf of ICAN, he sent an "official demand" letter to Xavier Becerra, the current health secretary, instructing the health agency and all of its divisions, including the C.D.C. and F.D.A., to "preserve all documents."