A lawyer associated with President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the top health agency has filed a petition with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to revoke approval of the polio vaccine used in the United States. The lawyer, Aaron Siri, submitted the petition in 2022 on behalf of the Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), a nonprofit organization that questions the safety of vaccines and vaccine mandates.
Siri has been collaborating closely with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic and Trump's choice to head the US Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy's potential role as the head of HHS, which requires Senate confirmation, could involve overseeing the FDA and potentially intervening in the petition review process.
The FDA is currently reviewing the petition, with no set timetable for a response. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a polio survivor, issued a warning regarding any association with efforts to rescind the polio vaccine's approval, suggesting that such actions could jeopardize a nominee's confirmation in the Senate.
In a recent interview, Trump expressed a willingness to consider eliminating certain vaccines for children if he deems them dangerous or not beneficial. However, he also praised the polio vaccine as a significant medical advancement, stating that convincing him to eliminate it would be a challenging task.
