RFK Jr.'s Lawyer Petitioned the FDA to Revoke Polio Vaccine Approval

A petition to revoke federal approval of the polio vaccine has been filed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s lawyer, Aaron Siri.

The vaccine, which was invented in 1955, eliminated polio in the United States, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says.

Kennedy — who was picked for incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet to lead the Department of Health and Human Services — has been vetting candidates for the office with the assistance of Siri, who specializes in vaccine lawsuits, the New York Times reports.

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Siri’s petition, which was filed in 2022 on behalf of the anti-vaccine group Informed Consent Action Network, asks that the Federal Drug Administration suspend or withdraw the approval of the polio vaccine “until a properly controlled and properly powered double-blind trial of sufficient duration is conducted to assess the safety of this product,” according to the NYT. 

The CDC says there is no cure for polio (or poliomyelitis) but "it can be prevented with safe and effective vaccination." Siri is asking the FDA to amend the polio vaccine label to include a warning that it “does not prevent poliovirus transmission."

Invented by U.S. physician Jonas Salk, the vaccine helped nearly eradicate polio around the world. The World Health Organization reports that by 1957, annual cases dropped from 58,000 to 5,600. By 1961, only 161 cases of polio were documented. 

Before the vaccine, the disease had been a major cause of disability in children, according to theMayo Clinic. Several polio epidemics occurred between 1948 and 1955, and many people avoided crowds and public gatherings for fear they would get the highly contagious disease.

Serious complications from polio include meningitis, and spinal and respiratory paralysis — which can be fatal, the CDC says, as the muscles that help you breathe are also impacted.

About 16,000 cases of polio occurred each year in the U.S. in the 20th century compared with none in 2020.

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A representative for Sanofi, the company that manufactures the polio vaccine targeted by Siri’s petition, tells the NYT that development began in 1977 and involved more than 300 studies, some of which included six months of research. Since then, more than 280 million people have received the vaccine.

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), the once-global disease remains endemic in only two countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since the launch of GPEI, the vaccine has prevented an estimated 20 million cases of paralysis in children.

Siri has contacted the FDA about pausing 13 other vaccines, the NYT reports, with his primary concern being the inclusion of aluminum in vaccines for diseases like hepatitis A, hepatitis B, diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus.

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