August 21, 2017

STAT News: An interview with Robert Kennedy Jr. on vaccines, August 14, 2017

This Q & A interview was conducted by STAT News reporter, Helen Branswell (H), with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (B)  on August 14, 2017.

H: So when I had first approached you for this interview, the question I wanted to ask you related to the Vaccine Safety Commission. You had announced in January that you were going to head it, after you met with then President Elect Trump. It's been a number of months now and there hasn't been any public discussion. He made some comments in February about being interested in looking into autism but there hasn't been anything else since. so we've been wondering, where does this stand? So I guess my first question to you is: Are you going to be heading a Vaccine Safety Commission set up by the White House or by President Trump?

B: I've had no discussions with the White House specifically about the Vaccine Safety Commission probably since February.

H: Okay

B: I've spoken with the White House about other issues relating to vaccine safety and I've had a number of follow up meetings.

H: Can I ask you who you met with?

B: Well I've met with high level officials in the White House and they've arranged meetings for me with HHS and White House officials and various agency officials including [NIH Director] Francis Collins and [NIH Principle Deputy Director] Lawrence Tabek, Tony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Infectious Disease, Linda Birnbaum, Director of the National Institute of Developmental Health Sciences, and Dr. Diana Bianchi, the head of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Health and Human Development.

H: Right

B: And then over at FDA, I met with Peter Marks, Director of the Center for Biological Evaluation and Research (CBER) and Dr. Scott Winiecki, from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), Dr. Wiley Chambers, also from CBER, and some other officials there.

H: Ok

B: I can't remember, at this moment, all of the people that we met with but I'm happy to send you a list of names.

H: And this is since the change of the administration?

B: Yeah, the White House officials and HHS officials accompanied me and arranged the meeting. I did it at their request.

H: At their request? Theirs?

B: Yeah

H: But who is they?

B: The White House

H: Okay. All right. So you said you've had no discussion since February about the Vaccine Safety Commission. Do you think that…

B: Again, not specifically about the Commission.