Four Democratic senators are investigating whether the family of HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is profiting from what they assert are "bogus" vaccine lawsuits. In particular, they want to know if the Kennedy family is benefiting from a $50 million settlement agreed by MSD earlier this year, in a lawsuit claiming harm from its human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil, that Kennedy's actions as HHS Secretary could have influenced. He was subsequently pressured into handing his stake in the lawsuits to his son, who is currently employed at Wisner Baum as an associate attorney. The Gardasil settlement "appears to reinforce a lucrative and dangerous playbook – litigators with ties to anti-vaccine organisations sue drug companies with scientifically dubious claims and undermine trust in vaccines and America's public health as a result," write the lawmakers in the letter. Wisner Baum told Reuters that Kennedy or his son "at no time" will receive fees from a Gardasil settlement.