Health officials & drug deals

Kennedy’s stake in Gardasil suits went to the law firm, not his son as he told senators; Merck paid $50M

$856,559 in referral fees he reported, 2023 to 2024

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was entitled to 10% of fees from cases he referred to the firm Wisner Baum, including suits against Merck over its HPV vaccine, and reported $856,559 in referral fees from the firm from 2023 through December 2024. Under pressure at his 2025 confirmation he said he would assign the Gardasil interest to an adult son; HHS disclosed only in August 2026 that on Feb. 11, 2025 he instead assigned it irrevocably to the firm, where his son Conor is an associate. Merck settled the litigation for $50 million in 2026 without admitting fault. Four Senate Democrats asked in a letter reported Sept. 25, 2026 whether any side arrangement exists; none has been shown.

Their response: HHS press secretary Emily Hilliard, to The Hill: Kennedy “fully complied with his ethics agreement and divested his entire financial interest in the Gardasil contingency-fee cases before assuming his duties as Secretary.” Wisner Baum: “At no time will either receive any fees from the alleged Gardasil settlement.”

Sources: The Hill (Sept. 25, 2026) · The Hill (Aug. 25, 2026) · The Hill (July 29, 2026) · STAT (Jan. 31, 2025)

Kennedy adviser’s law firm got a no-bid contract to rework the vaccine court he had steered clients out of

$410,000 no-bid contract (KFF Health News)

Andrew Downing, a vaccine-injury lawyer, became a senior adviser to Kennedy, and in June 2025 HHS gave his firm, Brueckner Spitler Shelts, a sole-source contract to consult on overhauling the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program; it has grown to $410,000, KFF Health News reported in January 2026. KFF’s review of court records found Downing and about a dozen other lawyers, several tied to Kennedy, withdrew roughly 400 Gardasil claims from the program over five years and moved hundreds into lawsuits against Merck, where fees can be far higher. The program paid Downing $445 an hour in one case KFF examined.

Their response: KFF Health News: “Downing declined to comment and HHS did not respond to requests for comment for this article.”

Sources: KFF Health News (Jan. 29, 2026)

Kennedy and four advisers earned at least $3.2 million from wellness and anti-pharma work, KFF found

$3.2M earned by Kennedy and four advisers, 2022 to 2023 (KFF tally)

A KFF Health News review of ethics filings and tax forms found that Kennedy, Calley and Casey Means, Robert Malone and Peter McCullough earned at least $3.2 million in fees and salaries in 2022 and 2023 from opposing drugmakers and promoting wellness products. Kennedy fired all 17 members of the CDC vaccine panel in June 2025 citing industry conflicts; two of his replacements, Malone and Martin Kulldorff, had been paid expert witnesses in vaccine suits against Merck. STAT reported in July 2025 that HHS did not release the new members’ ethics forms before their first meeting as promised.

Their response: HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard, to KFF Health News: “Secretary Kennedy, and all HHS officials, fully comply with all ethics and financial disclosure laws. Any attempt to suggest impropriety is reckless and politically motivated.”

Sources: KFF Health News (July 14, 2025) · STAT (July 9, 2025) · STAT (June 13, 2025)

Kennedy aide co-founded a firm that profits from health savings accounts the White House expanded

Calley Means co-founded Truemed, which sells letters of medical necessity so customers can buy saunas, supplements and gym memberships with tax-free health savings dollars. He worked at the White House as a special government employee from March 2025, a period in which Trump signed the July 2025 tax law that expanded those accounts, and became a full senior adviser at HHS in November 2025. Truemed says he left the company in August 2025; HHS says he is divesting. The terms of the divestiture of the privately held stake have not been disclosed.

Their response: HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard, to KFF Health News: “Calley Means will not personally benefit financially from this proposal as he will be divesting from his company since he has been hired at HHS as a senior advisor supporting food and nutrition policy.”

Sources: KFF Health News (Dec. 5, 2025) · KFF Health News (July 14, 2025) · The Hill (Nov. 19, 2025)

Kennedy named a co-founder of a leucovorin telehealth startup to chair the federal autism panel

STAT reported on Sept. 22, 2026 that Kennedy installed pediatric neurologist John Gaitanis as chair of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which helps direct roughly $2 billion in federal autism research. Gaitanis co-founded Meadow Biosciences, a telehealth company built around getting leucovorin to autistic children. Trump and Kennedy promoted leucovorin from the Oval Office in September 2025; in March 2026 the FDA approved it only for an ultra-rare folate disorder, with an official saying there was not sufficient data “to say that we could establish efficacy for autism more broadly.”

Sources: STAT (Sept. 22, 2026) · The Hill (March 10, 2026)

Health advisory panel includes a pardoned man’s fundraiser mother and an investor in Don Jr.-linked BlinkRx

Kennedy and Oz named an 18-member Healthcare Advisory Committee on March 26, 2026 to advise on Medicare, Medicaid and Medicare Advantage. Its members include Elizabeth Fago, a nursing-home investor and Trump fundraiser whose son Trump pardoned weeks after she attended a $1 million-a-seat dinner, and Sebastian Caliri, a venture capitalist with a stake in BlinkRx, whose board includes Donald Trump Jr. Senators Wyden and Merkley wrote on July 14, 2026 that most members are executives or investors in companies that stand to benefit from the panel’s advice. The membership is documented; the conflict claims are the senators’.

Their response: Kennedy, announcing the panel, said members were chosen from 400 nominees and “bring extensive experience from state and federal government, from health system management, from nonprofits and health technology innovation.” No reply to the senators’ letter was found.

Sources: Senate Finance Committee Democrats, Wyden and Merkley letter (July 14, 2026) · The Hill (March 26, 2026) · STAT (March 26, 2026)

FDA’s top drug regulator quit as a lawsuit accused him of using the post against an ex-associate

George Tidmarsh, a drug-industry veteran who became head of the FDA’s drug center in July 2025, was placed on leave on Oct. 31 and resigned Nov. 2, 2025, after HHS lawyers and the inspector general were told of “serious concerns about his personal conduct.” The same day Aurinia Pharmaceuticals sued him, alleging he disparaged its lupus drug in a LinkedIn post, which knocked its shares down more than 20%, out of a vendetta against board chair Kevin Tang, who had forced him out of a company in 2019, and that his lawyer sought a 10-year extension of a contract with a Tang-linked firm days after an FDA action against it. These are allegations in a civil complaint.

Their response: Tidmarsh told The New York Times he did not “send anything” to Tang and said he was being retaliated against for objecting to the commissioner’s fast-track voucher program. HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard: “Secretary Kennedy expects the highest ethical standards from all individuals serving under his leadership.”

Sources: The Hill (Nov. 3, 2025)

Drugmakers that signed Trump’s pricing deals got tariff relief; the terms are still secret a year on

Pfizer’s chief executive said on Sept. 30, 2025 that its “most favored nation” pricing deal came with a three-year grace period from Section 232 drug tariffs, and Pfizer’s release said the “specific terms of the agreement remain confidential.” By Aug. 31, 2026 the White House counted 26 manufacturers with deals; its fact sheets list price pledges and investments but not what the companies received. At a Sept. 15, 2026 hearing the lead negotiator, HHS deputy secretary nominee Chris Klomp, told senators the details must stay confidential. A Senate Democratic staff report says the companies got tariff relief, faster FDA review and exemptions from Medicare pricing pilots.

Their response: Chris Klomp told the Senate Finance Committee the details needed to stay confidential to avoid releasing trade secrets and proprietary information (The Hill’s paraphrase).

Sources: The Hill (Sept. 30, 2025) · The Hill (Oct. 3, 2025) · The Hill (Sept. 15, 2026) · White House fact sheet (Aug. 31, 2026) · Senate Finance Committee Democrats (April 21, 2026)

FDA fast-track vouchers went out the same days the White House announced those drugmakers’ pricing deals

The FDA’s “national priority voucher”, created in June 2025, cuts drug review from about a year to one or two months. Vouchers for Lilly’s obesity pill and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy were announced Nov. 6, 2025, the day of the two companies’ White House pricing deal, and two more, including Merck’s cholesterol pill, on Dec. 19, the day Merck and eight others signed. STAT reported that top FDA officials were involved in every part of the program, awarded at least one voucher over staff concerns and pressed staff to award vouchers as part of the White House deals. Lilly’s pill was approved 50 days after filing.

Their response: FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, Nov. 6, 2025: “National priority vouchers are granted to a select group of products where the company has agreed to increase affordability, domesticate manufacturing as a national security issue, or address an unmet public health need.” The FDA says voucher drugs must meet the same approval standards as any other.

Sources: FDA announcement, second voucher batch (Nov. 6, 2025) · FDA announcement, two vouchers (Dec. 19, 2025) · STAT (Dec. 19, 2025) · White House fact sheet (Dec. 19, 2025) · FDA announcement of Foundayo approval (April 1, 2026)

Trump’s account bought up to $680,000 of Eli Lilly stock as his agencies advanced its obesity drugs

Up to $680,000 of Eli Lilly stock (his filing, via KFF)

Ethics disclosures released May 14, 2026 show seven purchases of Eli Lilly stock on Trump’s behalf from Jan. 6 through March 2026, worth as much as $680,000, plus $250,001 to $500,000 of injector maker West Pharmaceutical on Feb. 10, KFF Health News reported. In the same period Medicare moved to cover obesity drugs at a $50 copay with Lilly as a participant, TrumpRx began steering buyers to Lilly’s direct-sales site, and on April 1 the FDA approved Lilly’s Foundayo pill 50 days after filing under a commissioner’s voucher. The trades and the decisions are documented; any link between them is inferred.

Their response: Eric Trump on X, May 15, 2026: “To suggest that individual stocks are being bought or sold, at the discretion of any member of the Trump family, would be a lie and blatantly false.” The Trump Organization has said independent brokers control the investments. Lilly declined to comment.

Sources: KFF Health News (May 18, 2026) · FDA announcement of Foundayo approval (April 1, 2026) · White House fact sheet on the Lilly and Novo Nordisk deal (Nov. 6, 2025)

Trump’s account bought tobacco stock as donors gave millions and his FDA cleared flavored vapes

$20M+ from tobacco interests to MAGA Inc. since late 2023 (FEC, per KFF)

KFF Health News reported in June 2026 that Trump’s disclosures show Philip Morris holdings of as much as $1.64 million and eight purchases of Philip Morris or Altria stock in March 2026, while tobacco interests gave MAGA Inc. more than $20 million since late 2023, including $5 million from Reynolds American on April 30, 2026. In May 2026 the FDA authorized its first fruit-flavored vapes and issued guidance letting unauthorized vapes and pouches stay on sale during review; AP reported that tobacco-center officials were not consulted. Commissioner Marty Makary, who had reportedly resisted, resigned on May 12. The donations, trades and decisions are documented; that the policy was a favor for them is an inference, which a Senate Democrat is investigating.

Their response: White House spokesperson Kush Desai, to KFF Health News: “The only guiding factor behind the Trump administration’s health policymaking is Gold Standard Science.” Philip Morris disputed any connection. The White House did not comment on the investments or donations.

Sources: KFF Health News (June 11, 2026) · AP via Fortune (May 23, 2026) · AP via Fortune (June 12, 2026) · Senate Finance Committee Democrats, Wyden release (Aug. 5, 2026) · STAT (Sept. 8, 2026)