Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lawyer, Aaron Siri, has filed a petition to revoke the federal approval of the polio vaccine. The petition, submitted in 2022 on behalf of the anti-vaccine group Informed Consent Action Network, calls for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to suspend or withdraw its approval until a “properly controlled and powered double-blind trial” assessing the vaccine’s safety is conducted.
The polio vaccine, developed in 1955, is credited by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) with eradicating polio in the United States. Kennedy, who was reportedly being considered by then President-elect Donald Trump to head the Department of Health and Human Services, worked with Siri, a specialist in vaccine lawsuits, during the vetting process for the position.
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Siri’s petition contends that the FDA should amend the polio vaccine label to include a warning that it “does not prevent poliovirus transmission.” This assertion contradicts the CDC’s stance that polio, while incurable, is preventable through “safe and effective vaccination.”
The CDC emphasizes the severity of polio, also known as poliomyelitis, highlighting potential complications like meningitis, spinal paralysis, and respiratory paralysis, which can be fatal due to the impact on breathing muscles. Before the vaccine’s introduction, the United States saw approximately 16,000 polio cases annually in the 20th century. By 2020, that number had dropped to zero. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports a dramatic decline in global cases following the vaccine’s widespread use: from 58,000 in 1957 to 5,600, and further down to just 161 cases by 1961.
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Prior to the vaccine’s availability, polio was a leading cause of childhood disability, according to the Mayo Clinic. Frequent epidemics between 1948 and 1955 led to widespread fear and avoidance of public gatherings due to the disease’s highly contagious nature.
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Sanofi, the manufacturer of the polio vaccine targeted by Siri’s petition, stated that the vaccine’s development, initiated in 1977, involved over 300 studies, some lasting six months, and has been administered to more than 280 million people. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) credits the vaccine with preventing an estimated 20 million cases of paralysis in children and confirms that polio remains endemic only in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to the New York Times, Siri has also contacted the FDA regarding 13 other vaccines, raising concerns about the inclusion of aluminum in vaccines for diseases such as hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus.
