Story perspectives

Wyden and Markey Demand DOJ Probe Samoa Vaccine Claim

8/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

Senators Ron Wyden and Edward Markey asked the Justice Department to investigate Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Samoa trip statements.
Kennedy told Senate Finance and HELP committees in January 2025 that the Samoa visit “had nothing to do with vaccines.”
The 2019 trip preceded a measles outbreak that sickened over 5,700 Samoans and killed 83, mostly children under five.
Two nurses later pleaded guilty to manslaughter for mixing MMR vaccine powder with an expired muscle relaxant.

History

Historical Context

Early 1976 a H1N1 strain at Fort Dix, New Jersey caused one death and led President Gerald Ford to start a nationwide swine-flu vaccination. After roughly 45 million doses, CDC officials documented 362 Guillain-Barré cases, prompting a program halt and the 1986 National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Today a Senate panel probes Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Samoa remarks, recalling the 1976 controversy.

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Story summary

Senators Ron Wyden and Edward Markey asked the Justice Department to investigate Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Samoa trip statements.
Kennedy told Senate Finance and HELP committees in January 2025 that the Samoa visit “had nothing to do with vaccines.”
The 2019 trip preceded a measles outbreak that sickened over 5,700 Samoans and killed 83, mostly children under five.
Two nurses later pleaded guilty to manslaughter for mixing MMR vaccine powder with an expired muscle relaxant.

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