The Washington Post editorial board accuses me of a conflict of interest that might bias me against Big Pharma, whose interests they apparently seek to protect. The alleged conflict comes from money I supposedly made from a settlement in a lawsuit against Merck for injuries caused by its Gardasil vaccine. The problem is that I never received a penny from the Merck Gardasil settlement, and neither has my son nor anyone else in my family. Before taking office, I relinquished any interest in potential Gardasil fees back to the Wisner Baum law firm, which publicly confirmed this during my confirmation process. Yet @SenWarren, @Reuters, and @washingtonpost editorial board — in their ardor to protect Big Pharma — continue to push a false narrative that makes Big Pharma the victim and me the mendacious villain. They should correct the record — and spend more time examining the real conflicts that have long disabled the regulatory function of my Department, all of which I am now deconstructing. I’m firing corrupt regulators and dismissing the panels formerly populated by heavily conflicted “experts.” We are dismantling the mechanisms of corporate capture that made this agency the sock puppet for the industry it was supposed to regulate. Why are Reuters, Warren, and WaPo inventing lies to besmirch the first @HHSgov Secretary in modern history to stand up to industry?