Advisor to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. petitioned FDA to withdraw polio vaccine

An attorney connected to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, filed a petition on behalf of an activist group asking the Food and Drug Administration to suspend or withdraw approval of a polio vaccine for children.

Attorney Aaron Siri filed the petition on behalf of Informed Consent Action Network, a group that questions vaccine safety.

The petition criticizes the clinical trials done to license the polio vaccine manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur and argues it should not be administered until another trial is conducted.

Siri is an adviser to Kennedy who has helped him select health officials for the Trump administration, according to media reports. Siri posted a picture with Kennedy on his X feed on Nov. 14. When Trump announced Kennedy as his pick for secretary of Health and Human Services, Siri shared the announcement on X and wrote "A new day is about to dawn for transparency, accountability and truth!"

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes Polio as "once one of the most feared diseases in the United States" but notes that "thanks to the polio vaccine, wild poliovirus has been eliminated in this country." Polio can lead to severe paralysis, disability and death, the CDC notes.

Siri lists litigation over "vaccine injury" as one of his specialties on his law firm's website. He did not immediately respond to message left with his firm.

Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic, and his selection to lead HHS has raised concerns among some doctors and public health experts, who say his views are at odds with scientific evidence. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, who ran the agency during Trump's first term as president, told CNBC recently that if "RFK follows through on his intentions, and I believe he will, and I believe he can, it will cost lives in this country."

Asked about Kennedy's vaccine views in an interview published by Time magazine this week, Trump sounded skeptical of vaccines himself, despite health officials attesting to their safety.

Responding to a question about whether he would support Kennedy if he seeks to end child vaccination efforts, Trump said: "We're going to have a big discussion. The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. If you look at things that are happening, there's something causing it."

More: 'Somebody has to find out': Trump says RFK Jr. will look at why autism is on the rise

Pressed on whether he believes there is a connection between vaccines and autism, Trump said: "I want to see the numbers. It's going to be the numbers."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says many studies have looked at whether there is a connection between vaccines and autism and "To date, the studies continue to show that vaccines are not associated with" autism.

Trump said he might get rid of some vaccinations "if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial, but I don’t think it’s going to be very controversial in the end."

Responding to an NBC story, Siri disputed that the idea that claims about a connection between vaccines and autism have been "debunked."

"The answer is unmistakably 'no!'" he wrote on X.

Siri also took to X to push back against reporting on the petition filed to withdraw the polio vaccine. Siri criticized the New York Times, which first reported on the petition, saying the story "begins (and ends) with defending a certain polio vaccine, IPOL, which is not the polio vaccine of old, while playing on fear to distract from the clear safety gaps in licensing this particular product."

Trump said in a Sunday interview with “Meet the Press" that he supports the polio vaccine.

“The polio vaccine is the greatest thing,” he said.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday about Siri's effort to withdraw the polio vaccine.

Republican U.S. Sen. Leader Mitch McConnell, who had polio as a child, put out a statement Friday in support of the vaccine.

“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease," McConnell wrote. "Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed – they’re dangerous. Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”

Eduardo Cuevas and Joey Garrison contributed

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ally petitioned to stop use of polio vaccine