NIH board chair says Kennedy vaccine clinic costs zero dollars but risks hospital reputation

Jack Leslie, chair of the board for the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Research Hospital, told his colleagues that a new vaccine injury clinic could harm the institution's reputation. He made the warning during a regularly scheduled board meeting.

Leslie set aside the standard agenda to speak for about six minutes about Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He argued that Kennedy's recent public activities, including a surprise ribbon-cutting ceremony, could tarnish the hospital's standing. The facility is often called the house of hope because it treats patients with rare conditions who have run out of other options.

The controversy centers on a recent event where Kennedy opened his signature clinic. A panel of individuals who said they were hurt by vaccines sat behind placards that read vaccine injured. They spoke with Kennedy and other senior Trump administration officials at the ceremony.

Leslie acknowledged that some board members might prefer he stay quiet. He said that silence would be a failure of the advisory board. He stated, But I think that that would be a failing as an advisory board if we were silent.

The chair was careful to distinguish between studying vaccine harms and the political spectacle of the launch. He said he has no objection to scientific inquiry and noted that serious reactions are rare but real. He added that people who believe they have been injured should be taken seriously.

The clinic does not come with a new budget. It also does not have extra clinic space. The NIH already operates a center that studies vaccine injuries. Jonathan Green, the hospital CEO, sat next to Leslie and backed up these facts. Green said the NIH has researched vaccine safety and efficacy for decades and that the work is continuing.

Green described the new clinic as just one more individual protocol at the hospital. His description frames the addition as a modest step within existing research. Leslie focused on the risk to the hospital's name. The remarks from both leaders point to a gap between the high-profile ceremony and the clinic's actual operational footprint.