Jack Leslie calls RFK Jr.'s clinic a risk to NIH hospital's reputation
The NIH Clinical Center board chair spent six minutes of a recent meeting criticizing the vaccine injury clinic, while hospital CEO Jonathan Green described the addition as a standard research protocol.
By Chioma Kuznetsov ·
The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center Research Hospital serves patients with rare conditions who have exhausted other treatment options. Jack Leslie, the chair of the board overseeing that facility, warned on October 23 that a new vaccine injury clinic could damage the institution's standing.
During a regularly scheduled meeting, Leslie delivered a six minute critique of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Leslie argued that the secretary's public anti-vaccine activities threaten the hospital's nickname as the house of hope. He stated that the board would be failing in its advisory role if it remained silent about the controversy surrounding the clinic's launch.
The criticism follows a recent ribbon-cutting ceremony where Kennedy made a surprise appearance. The event featured a panel of individuals who claim they were injured by vaccines. These speakers sat behind placards labeled vaccine injured and spoke with Kennedy and other high-ranking Trump administration officials.
Leslie clarified that his objection was not to the scientific study of vaccine harms. He noted that serious reactions are rare but real and that patients who believe they have been injured should be taken seriously. He emphasized that the board supports rigorous inquiry into potential injuries from vaccines.
Jonathan Green, the hospital's CEO, supported Leslie's context but offered a different perspective on the clinic's scale. Green stated that the NIH has researched vaccine safety and efficacy for decades. He described the new clinic as a single protocol within the existing research structure, noting that it comes with no additional funding or extra clinic space.
The remarks from both leaders highlight a distinction between the high-profile launch event and the clinic's practical operations. Leslie focused on the reputational risk to a facility that treats some of the most vulnerable patients. Green framed the clinic as a modest addition to work the NIH already conducts.
