一群参议院民主党议员质疑：尽管罗伯特·F·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）承诺会退出与该疫苗制造商的诉讼，但他是否可能隐瞒了从该和解协议中获取金钱的安排。
A group of Senate Democrats questioned whether Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. potentially concealed an agreement to collect money from a settlement with a vaccine manufacturer despite pledging to divest from the lawsuit.
在去年获得确认任命时，肯尼迪仍卷入了一起由威斯纳·鲍姆律师事务所（Wisner Baum）针对默克公司（Merck）提起的诉讼中。该诉讼指控默克的HPV疫苗“加德西尔”（Gardasil）导致了患者的神经损伤和自身免疫系统问题。
At the time of his confirmation process last year, Kennedy was still involved in a lawsuit carried out by the law firm Wisner Baum against Merck over its HPV vaccine Gardasil, alleging that it caused neurological and autoimmune injuries.
今年早些时候，默克公司同意支付5000万美元以了结这起诉讼，但并未承认任何过错，同时坚称其产品是安全有效的。威斯纳·鲍姆律师事务所随后表示，肯尼迪及其儿子都不会从这笔和解款项中分得任何利益——这与肯尼迪向国会承诺的处理方式完全相反。
Merck agreed to pay $50 million earlier this year to settle the lawsuit without admitting any guilt, maintaining its product was safe and effective. Wisner Baum confirmed soon after that neither Kennedy nor his son would receive from the settlement, contradicting what the secretary told Congress about how he would handle his divestment.
这种矛盾引发了民主党参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（Elizabeth Warren，马萨诸塞州）、罗恩·怀登（Ron Wyden，俄勒冈州）、理查德·布卢门撒尔（Richard Blumenthal，康涅狄格州）和安吉拉·阿尔索布鲁克斯（Angela Alsobrooks，马里兰州）的质疑。他们在给肯尼迪的信中写道：“你可能是在‘无偿’的情况下做出了这一让步；但如果该和解协议中包含了任何关于未来付款或其他回报的隐含或明确约定，那么这将引发人们对你在任职期间是否存在利益冲突的担忧，也会对卫生与公众服务部（HHS）决策的公正性产生质疑。”
The discrepancy drew skepticism from Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Ron Wyden (Oreg.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Angela Alsobrooks (Md.). “It is possible you made this valuable concession expecting nothing in return. But if the agreement involves any kind of implicit or explicit agreement with Wisner Baum about future payments or other future rewards in exchange for your Gardasil stake, it would prompt concerns about your ongoing conflicts of interest with the firm, and about the integrity of your decisions at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),” they wrote in a letter to Kennedy.
起初，肯尼迪表示自己有权保留部分和解款项，并辩称自己作为律师并未直接参与该诉讼；但后来他承诺会放弃自己的相关权益，并将这些款项转交给自己的儿子。
While Kennedy at first indicated his plans to retain part of the fees awarded in the case, arguing at the time that he was “entitled” to that money and wasn’t actively involved in the case as an attorney, he later committed to divesting his interest and instead assigning them to his son.
肯尼迪的儿子康纳·肯尼迪是威斯纳·鲍姆律师事务所（Wisner Baum）的职员，但他并未被列入参与加德西尔疫苗（Gardasil）案件的法律顾问名单中。在8月份写给沃伦（Warren）的一封信中，美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）的立法事务助理部长加里·安德烈斯（Gary Andres）确认，卫生部长已将康纳在该案件中的所有权益不可撤销地转让给了威斯纳·鲍姆律师事务所。
Kennedy’s son, Conor Kennedy, is an associate at Wisner Baum, though he is not listed among counsel involved with the Gardasil case. In an August letter to Warren, HHS Assistant Secretary for Legislation Gary Andres confirmed the health secretary had irrevocably assigned his interests in the case to Wisner Baum.
“这一变更引发了关于你为何决定将相关权益交回给威斯纳·鲍姆的疑问：你并未对此作出任何解释，也没有说明离开政府后是否还能从该公司获得额外的福利或其他补偿。”议员们指出。
“The modification also raises questions about the conditions and circumstances under which you decided to relinquish the stakes back to Wisner Baum. You have provided no explanation for this change, and you have failed to clarify whether it may entitle you to additional benefits or other considerations from Wisner Baum upon leaving government,” the lawmakers added.
“如果你在将相关权益转让给威斯纳·鲍姆时，与该公司达成了任何形式的隐含或明确的支付或其他回报协议，那么这就意味着你存在持续的利益冲突，这无疑会质疑你作为卫生部长所做出的决策的公正性与动机。”《希尔报》（The Hill）已联系美国卫生与公众服务部要求其对此事发表评论。
“If you made any kind of implicit or explicit agreement for future payment or other future rewards with Wisner Baum in exchange for assigning them this stake, it would mean that you have an ongoing conflict of interest that calls into question your integrity and the motivations for your decisions as HHS Secretary.” The Hill has reached out to HHS for comment.