The potential elevation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the nation’s largest health agency could be detrimental to the government’s goal of preventing cervical cancer through vaccination.
That’s because Kennedy has a long history of making misleading claims about and being involved in legal challenges to the human papillomavirus vaccine, which experts credit with saving hundreds of thousands of lives by preventing HPV infections that can cause cervical, head and neck cancer.
During his time as a vaccine injury attorney, Kennedy launched complaints and lawsuits against Merck, the maker of Gardasil, which was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006.
