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Senators Push Justice Department Probe Over Kennedy MMR Samoa

8/29/2026

42 9 Full Breakdown

Center

Kennedy Defends Trip

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to Samoa in May-June 2019 to study its measles-mumps-rubella vaccine program.
The Department of Health and Human Services said accusations that Kennedy lied to Congress are false and defamatory.
A January 20 2019 letter on Children’s Health Defense letterhead requested an assessment of Samoa’s MMR program.
Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden said the letter shows Kennedy misled Congress.

Left

Kennedy Misleads Congress

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visited Samoa in May-June 2019 to examine its MMR vaccine program.
The letters show he misled Congress, prompting Democratic senators to call for a Justice Department probe.
Samoa halted vaccinations for ten months after two infants died from a faulty MMR dose.
A subsequent measles outbreak killed 83 children, mostly under five, and senators warned the false statements carry a five-year limitation.

History

Historical Context

Andrew Wakefield's February 1998 Lancet paper claimed MMR vaccine caused autism from study of twelve children. The claim drove UK MMR coverage down from 92% in 1996 to 84% in 2002 and measles cases rose to 449 in 2006. Prompted 2015 WHO recommendation and, in 2019, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Samoa letters led Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden to request a Justice Department probe.

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Kennedy Defends Trip

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to Samoa in May-June 2019 to study its measles-mumps-rubella vaccine program.
The Department of Health and Human Services said accusations that Kennedy lied to Congress are false and defamatory.
A January 20 2019 letter on Children’s Health Defense letterhead requested an assessment of Samoa’s MMR program.
Senators Ed Markey and Ron Wyden said the letter shows Kennedy misled Congress.

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