Jan 22 (Reuters) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would retain

legal fees earned from litigation against drugmaker Merck ( MRK ) if he

is confirmed as President Donald Trump's secretary of the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services, according to a federal

ethics disclosure made public on Wednesday.

Kennedy, who ended his own presidential campaign last year

to endorse Trump, is set for a U.S. Senate hearing on his

nomination next week. As HHS secretary, Kennedy would wield

enormous influence over the pharma industry, and the nomination

is opposed by several health and consumer organizations over

Kennedy's role in sowing doubt about the safety and efficacy of

vaccines.

Reuters reported last week that Kennedy played an

instrumental role in organizing mass litigation against Merck ( MRK )

over its human papillomavirus shot Gardasil. One of the main

lawyers suing Merck ( MRK ), Michael Baum, told Reuters that Kennedy

"taught us" how to pursue Gardasil claims outside a special

government-run vaccine compensation program that limits pharma

company liability.

Kennedy has an arrangement to earn 10 percent of fees

awarded in contingency cases he refers to Baum's firm

WisnerBaum, according to a letter Kennedy wrote to an HHS ethics

official released on Wednesday. If confirmed, Kennedy would

retain that financial interest in cases that do not directly

impact the U.S. government, the letter said.

Kennedy and Baum did not immediately respond to requests for

comment. Merck ( MRK ) declined to comment.

High-level U.S. government officials routinely disclose

financial interests and potential conflicts during the

nomination process.

Kennedy wrote that he is "not an attorney of record" for his

WisnerBaum cases. However, Kennedy filed official court

appearances in several Gardasil cases, including one set for

trial in Los Angeles this week, court dockets show. As of

Wednesday, Kennedy had not appeared to have withdrawn from them.

In a separate ethics disclosure, Kennedy reported at least

$857,000 from WisnerBaum, and did not specify which cases

generated that income. Kennedy has collaborated with WisnerBaum

on litigation over Monsanto's weed killer Roundup.

The Gardasil lawsuits allege Merck ( MRK ) had fraudulently

advertised the vaccine as safe, overstating its benefits while

concealing knowledge of dangerous side effects. Merck ( MRK ) says the

cases have no merit and that research supports the safety of its

HPV vaccines.

(Reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco and Mike Spector in

New York)