RFK Jr. Plans NIH Vaccine Injury Clinic and Billing Code as Measles Cases Rise
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 7
RFK Jr. Plans NIH Vaccine Injury Clinic and Billing Code as Measles Cases Rise
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 7
Summary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is preparing a federal vaccine-injury initiative centered on a new NIH research clinic and a billing code to reimburse doctors for filing reports of serious side effects.
The plan surfaced during Kennedy’s first trip as health secretary to the NIH in Bethesda, where he and other top officials met patients who say vaccines injured them.
Public health experts broadly support monitoring rare adverse events, but many say Kennedy’s long record of questioning vaccine safety makes it too early to judge whether the effort will be scientifically grounded.
The initiative comes as U.S. vaccination rates have fallen and vaccine-preventable diseases including measles are rising, even as the WHO said in 2024 that immunization saved 154 million lives over the past 50 years.