STAT+: RFK Jr.’s new vaccine panel raises questions of how Kennedy defines conflicts of interest
The entanglements and strongly expressed views of the new vaccine panel raises questions of how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. defines conflicts of interest.
WASHINGTON — When health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismissed the 17 members of the key panel that advises the federal government on vaccine recommendations, he claimed that their ties to the pharmaceutical industry had damaged public trust.
However, new members of the panel — whose names were announced by Kennedy on Wednesday in a social media post — bring their own entanglements, as well as backgrounds rooted in vaccine skepticism, raising questions about how Kennedy is defining conflicts of interest, public health experts and a bioethicist say. Conflict of interest guidelines for members cite both financial ties and the need to disclose statements that could suggest a lack of impartiality around the vaccine or product being reviewed.
“What is the definition of conflict of interest that is being applied here, and how is it different than it was, if at all? That’s important,” Jeffrey Kahn, director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, said.
