Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was rebuked at a congressional hearing Tuesday after alleging that Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., based his stance on vaccines on campaign contributions received from pharmaceutical companies.
Pallone criticized Kennedy at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing over what he called the secretary's lack of transparency and firings at the department.
"You have made a number of major decisions about vaccines. And … there's been no public comment process or public accountability on that either. What are you afraid of?" Pallone said.
"With regard to vaccines, are you just afraid of receiving public comments on proposals where you just think these are fringe views that are contrary to the views of most scientists? You feel no responsibility to Congress whatsoever, and you just continue this ideology that's anti-science, anti-vaccine. That's all I see. I see nothing else."
Kennedy said that when he met Pallone 15 years ago, Pallone championed people who had been harmed by vaccines.
"You were very adamant about it. You were the leading member of Congress on that issue," Kennedy said. "Since then, you've accepted $2 million from pharmaceutical companies in contributions, more than any other member of this committee.
"And your enthusiasm for supporting the old [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices], which was completely rife and pervasive with pharmaceutical conflicts, seems to be an outcome of those contributions."
Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., asked Kennedy to retract his comments about Pallone. Kennedy agreed to do so.
Pallone had previously raised concerns about mercury in products approved by the Food and Drug Administration, The Hill reported. In 1997, he added an amendment to the FDA reauthorization bill that directed the agency to compile a list of foods and drugs that contain "intentionally introduced mercury compounds," The Hill said.
He has also received $2.2 million in contributions from the pharmaceutical industry since he joined Congress, The Hill reported, citing OpenSecrets.
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