- A lawyer advising Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants the FDA to revoke approval of the polio vaccine.
- Before vaccines were available in 1955, polio caused 15,000 cases of paralysis in the US each year.
- The US eliminated the disease in 1979, but unvaccinated travelers can still carry polio in.
Some health experts are concerned that polio could make a comeback in the US if the government revokes approval for the vaccine.
That’s what lawyer Aaron Siri petitioned to the FDA in 2022. His petition is still under review but could get renewed attention if Donald Trump’s nominee for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, is confirmed.
Kennedy has said he doesn’t plan to revoke any vaccines as health secretary. However, he has a close relationship with Siri who represented Kennedy during his presidential campaign.
Moreover, Siri’s polio petition was on behalf of the nonprofit Informed Consent Action Network, whose founder is close to Kennedy, The New York Times reported.
Polio vaccines helped eliminate the disease from the US in 1979.
Before then, in the 1950s specifically, cases of poliovirus ran rampant in the US. Hospitals overflowed with disabled or severely ill patients, according to the National Library of Medicine.
During the outbreak’s peak in 1952, polio infections caused 20,000 cases of paralysis. Families isolated in fear because of how easily it spreads among kids.
Doctors warn that pausing polio vaccinations could help the disease regain its foothold.
