Mark Kennedy, Esq.

Mark Kennedy is senior vice president of legal affairs for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nationwide organization of physicians and laypersons that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition, and addresses controversies in modern medicine, including ethical issues in research.

As senior vice president of legal affairs, Mr. Kennedy directs the Physicians Committee’s advocacy litigation, which challenges industry and government when they encourage the consumption of animal products and other unhealthy foods. Mr. Kennedy oversees the Physicians Committee’s efforts to use the legal system to promote vegan diets as well as alternatives to the use of animals in medical research and education.

Mr. Kennedy’s early caseload included a consumer fraud lawsuit against Atkins Nutritionals for promoting a high-fat, high-meat diet; a suit against the drug company Merck for negligently relying on animal testing to market the dangerous drug Vioxx; lawsuits seeking to halt false claims that dairy consumption aids in weight loss and to require dairy producers to print lactose intolerance warnings on milk cartons; and an action to end the University of California’s unlawful use of state funds for animal experiments that violate the federal Animal Welfare Act.

Recent cases have targeted processed meat manufacturers for not warning consumers about cancer risks; restaurant chains for failing to warn consumers about carcinogens in grilled chicken products; California’s public school system for serving processed meats to children; and two federal agencies for improprieties in the development of the 2010 and 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Mr. Kennedy uses open government laws—including public records litigation in state and federal courts—to advance the Physicians Committee’s work. He also drafts petitions to federal agencies, oversees corporate governance matters for the organization and its affiliates, and appeared in the 2017 documentary What the Health.

Mr. Kennedy received a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Virginia. He graduated cum laude from Washington and Lee University School of Law, where he served as the executive editor of the Washington and Lee Race and Ethnic Ancestry Law Journal and received the Virginia State Bar’s Oliver White Hill Law Student Pro Bono Award. Prior to joining the Physicians Committee, Mr. Kennedy worked for Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit that promotes legal careers in public service.

Mr. Kennedy is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bars and has been admitted to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.