RFK Jr. to retain law firm fees amid HHS nomination
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), plans to continue collecting fees from a law firm suing pharmaceutical giant Merck, even if confirmed by the Senate.

File Source: Modern Healthcare
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated by President Donald Trump to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), plans to continue collecting fees from a law firm suing pharmaceutical giant Merck, even if confirmed by the Senate.
In his financial disclosure released Wednesday, Kennedy revealed a fee arrangement with Wisner Baum, a firm where he previously served as co-counsel in litigation against Merck over Gardasil, a vaccine no longer available in the U.S. He stated he is “entitled to receive 10% of fees awarded in contingency fee cases referred to the [firm].” Kennedy reported $856,559 in income from the firm for cases involving claims under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
While Kennedy pledged to divest investments in companies such as Amazon, Dragonfly Therapeutics, and CRISPR Therapeutics within 90 days of his confirmation, he plans to retain interest in contingency fee cases unrelated to the United States. “I will divest of my interest in contingency fee cases that involve claims against the United States or in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest,” Kennedy wrote to Randall Hall, HHS’s designated ethics official.
Kennedy also disclosed that pending claims at Wisner Baum largely involve damages from the Woolsey fire and Roundup-induced non-Hodgkins lymphoma cases. He described payments for concluded cases against the United States as “complete and final” before assuming his HHS role.
The firm’s website quotes Kennedy stating, “Gardasil has left a calamitous health disaster in its wake.” He has also committed to relinquishing all financial interests tied to federal claims, including those under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.