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Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. falsely claimed measles vaccine was never fully safety tested
Statement: It's 'all true' that the measles vaccine wanes quickly, was never fully safety tested and contains fetal debris. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s comments about the measles vaccine briefly took center stage during his May 14 Senate testimony. Kennedy appeared before the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee to discuss Health and Human Services' 2026 budget, and senators questioned him about the 2025 measles outbreak that has killed three people, including two children. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., questioned Kennedy's statements about the measles vaccine. "You have consistently been undermining the measles vaccine," Murphy said. "You told the public that the vaccine wanes very quickly. You went on the 'Dr. Phil' show and said that the measles vaccine was never fully tested for safety. You said there's fetal debris in the measles vaccine." Kennedy answered, "All true. All true." Murphy tried to point to Kennedy's remarks from his testimony earlier the same day, but Kennedy interrupted: Murphy: "This morning, in front of — " Kennedy: "Do you want me to lie to the public?" Murphy: "That's not — None of that is true." Kennedy: "Of course it's true." Before becoming the nation's top public health official, Kennedy notched two decades of work as a leader in the antivaccine movement. Kennedy's inaccurate statements mischaracterize how the measles vaccine is made, how it was tested and how it works. Infectious disease and vaccine experts told PolitiFact that the two-dose MMR vaccine provides lifelong protection; that scientists safety tested it before it was approved for use; and that it does not contain human fetal cells or whole fetal DNA. We contacted HHS and received no response. In early April, Kennedy told CBS News that measles persists because the vaccine's effectiveness decreases fast. "We're always going to have measles, no matter what happens, because the vaccine wanes very quickly," he said. That's inaccurate, vaccine experts said. The measles vaccine is part of a combination vaccine known as the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or the MMR vaccine. It also can include the varicella vaccine, called the MMRV vaccine. Two infectious disease doctors and a vaccinology professor told PolitiFact that when people receive the measles vaccine's recommended two doses, it provides strong, long-lasting protection against measles infection. "You will have about a 97% chance of being protected and that protection will extend lifelong," said Dr. William Schaffner, infectious disease professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. That matches what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — an agency Kennedy oversees — says about the measles vaccine's efficacy. The MMR's measles vaccine "provides one of our most remarkably durable and long-lasting protective vaccine-induced antibodies," said Patsy Stinchfield, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and the immediate past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases. Measles antibodies might decrease over time, but that doesn't mean a person's vaccine-induced protection against measles infection is waning, experts said. Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said that to be protected against disease, "all you need is immunological memory cells," Offit said. When you're exposed to the virus, there's plenty of time for those memory cells to become activated and trigger the immune system to make measles antibodies, he said. For other diseases covered by the MMR vaccine, the protection can wane over time, said Paulo Verardi, a University of Connecticut virology and vaccinology professor. That's true of mumps immunity, for example, so people who got vaccinated as children might be less protected from infection as adults, he said. But the measles vaccine doesn't have that issue, he said. "It is rare for someone who has been vaccinated to get measles, and if they do, it is usually a mild case," Verardi said. "Most outbreaks happen not because the vaccine wears off quickly, but because not enough people are vaccinated." During a town hall hosted by TV personality Phil McGraw, known as Dr. Phil, Kennedy said, "The measles vaccine works," and said HHS recommends vaccination against measles. But there are "problems" with the vaccine, Kennedy added. "The problem is — it's really with the mumps portion of the vaccine and the combination — and it was never safety tested," he said. "That combination was never safety tested, and people just assumed that, you know, if the three separate vaccines were safe, then when you combined them they would be safe. But we now know there's some viral interference." Varardi said U.S. regulators approved the first combined MMR vaccine in 1971 "after extensive clinical testing to make sure it was safe and worked well." Kennedy also often talks about testing vaccines against placebos — inactive substances that provide no protection against disease — and HHS recently announced potential changes to vaccine testing that would require placebo testing. When the MMR vaccine was combined, research had shown that each of the components was safe and effective individually, and it isn't always ethical to test them against placebos that would leave test subjects unprotected from infection, Offit said. Fortunately, Offit said, we have "about 50 years of data" on the billions of doses of the MMR vaccine that have been administered. Schaffner said scientists continue to monitor the MMR vaccine's safety. Ongoing vaccine safety surveillance is important to catch extremely rare side effects. A Finland MMR vaccine study found that 5.3 in every 100,000 people vaccinated experienced serious adverse reactions. A 2021 study found that among 12,032 vaccinated people, four people reported serious vaccine-related events. During an April 30 News Nation interview, Kennedy said some people "have religious objections to the vaccination, because the MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles, so they don't want to take it." The MMR vaccine contains weakened live viruses, and viruses must be grown in cells. The measles and mumps viruses are grown in chicken embryo cells and the rubella virus is grown in human fetal cells, which first came from an elective abortion performed in the early 1960s and have been replicated in labs and used to manufacture vaccines for decades. Before it becomes a vaccine component, the virus is extracted from the cells where it is grown and then it is weakened and treated with an enzyme that fragments any remaining DNA, Offit said. So, does the MMR vaccine contain "fetal debris," fetal cells or whole fetal DNA? No, said Offit and Varardi. Whatever DNA is present from the original cell line used to grow the virus likely could be measured in picograms, "meaning trillionths of a gram," Offit said. The origin of the cells used to grow the virus has historically sparked religious concerns. Religious leaders including the Catholic Pontifical Academy for Life concluded that it is both morally permissible and responsible to use the vaccine, the Catholic News Agency reported. Kennedy told Murphy that it's "all true" that the measles vaccine wanes quickly, was never fully tested for safety and contains fetal debris. Scientists say the measles vaccine offers lifelong protection that is 97% effective at preventing the virus. Scientists tested the MMR vaccine before it was approved for use and perform ongoing safety surveillance research; studies show that serious adverse effects are rare. Finally, the MMR vaccine may contain trace amounts of fragmented DNA, but it does not contain whole fetal cells or fetal DNA. We rate Kennedy's statement False. PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. PBS News, WATCH: RFK Jr. defends his questioning of measles vaccine while saying he recommends it, May 14, 2025 Interview with Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, May 15, 2025 Interview with Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and professor of pediatrics in the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, May 15, 2025 Email interview with Paulo Verardi, virology and vaccinology professor at the University of Connecticut, May 15, 2025 Email interview with Patsy Stinchfield, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner and the immediate past president of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, May 16, 2025 Dr. Phil Primetime on YouTube, Inside RFK Jr.'s Health Agenda 100 Days In | Dr. Phil Primetime, April 30, 2025 Medical News Today, Fact check: How long does protection from the measles vaccines last? April 16, 2025 CBS News, Watch: RFK Jr.'s first network TV interview as HHS secretary, April 9, 2025 Reuters, US Health secretary Kennedy revives misleading claims of 'fetal debris' in measles shots, May 1, 2025 Health, Fact Check: Does the MMR Vaccine Really Contain 'Aborted Fetus Debris'? May 2, 2025 Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Vaccine Ingredients: Fetal Cells, accessed May 15, 2025 New York, RFK Jr. Claims the MMR Vaccine Contains 'Aborted Fetus Debris,' May 1, 2025 CIDRAP, Texas announces second measles death in unvaccinated child, April 7, 2025 NBC News, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. falsely claims measles vaccine protection 'wanes very quickly,' April 11, 2025 The Guardian, RFK Jr and health agency falsely claim MMR vaccine includes 'aborted fetus debris,' May 1, 2025 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Measles Vaccine Recommendations, accessed May 16, 2025 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health Alert Network, Expanding Measles Outbreak in the United States and Guidance for the Upcoming Travel Season, March 7, 2025 Medpage Today, Here's How We Know Vaccines Are Safe and Effective, May 15, 2025 Science News, HHS says new vaccines should be tested against placebos. They already are, May 14, 2025 News Nation YouTube channel, RFK Jr.: Measles cases in US not as bad as in other countries | CUOMO Town Hall: Trump's First 100 D, April 30, 2025 The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Serious adverse events after measles-mumps-rubella vaccination during a fourteen-year prospective follow-up, December 2000 The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Evaluation of the Safety and Immunogenicity of M-M-RII (Combination Measles-mumps-rubella Vaccine), November 2021 Cleveland Clinic, MMR Vaccine, accessed May 16, 2025 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, About the Vaccine MMR and MMRV Vaccine Composition and Dosage, accessed May 16, 2025 Catholic News Agency, What does the Catholic Church teach about vaccines? May 6, 2019 The Reporter Lansdale Pennsylvania, Merck Vaccine Tests Completed, Dec. 17, 1971 This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: RFK Jr. falsely claimed measles vaccine was never fully safety tested
The Herald Scotland
15-05-2025
- Health
- The Herald Scotland
How RFK Jr. defended HHS cuts before Congress: Here are 5 takeaways
He testified before the House committee on appropriations the morning of May 14 and before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in the afternoon. Throughout the interrogations, Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer, touched on abortion access, vaccines, lead poisoning, the measles outbreak, biomedical research, mental health and the opioid epidemic, and a spending bill that left at least one lawmaker shaking her head in dismay. In the second hearing, the Health secretary was charged by a small pack of protesters who erupted from their seats, chanting, "RFK kills people with AIDS." One of the protesters happened to be a well-known ice cream mogul. Here were the biggest moments and takeaways from RFK's day on the Hill. Lawmakers grilled RFK on controversial topics Some members of the Congressional committees, mostly Democrats, took their time on the dais to press Kennedy about his controversial views on vaccines, fluoride and the measles. The Health secretary skirted a question about whether he would vaccinate his children if they were born now. "Probably for measles," Kennedy said in response to the question from Democrat Rep. Mark Pocan. He then backpedaled, adding, "What I would say is: my opinions about vaccines are irrelevant." When pressed on whether he would vaccinate his children for chickenpox and Polio, Kennedy once again said he didn't want to be giving advice. More: RFK Jr.: 'I don't think people should be taking medical advice from me' Just last month, Kennedy claimed that measles vaccines are "leaky" because their effectiveness wanes over time - an argument disputed by medical experts. Outbreaks of the highly contagious infection have led to more than 1,000 cases and three deaths in the United States, including those of two unvaccinated children in Texas. During the hearing, Kennedy said his staff was doing "a better job at the CDC than any nation in the world at controlling the measles outbreak." Republican Rep. Mike Simpson, a dentist, expressed concerns to Kennedy about the "fluoride issue," noting that the Food and Drug Administration announced it had begun removing ingestible fluoride supplements for children. Fluoride is a mineral that occurs naturally in water, soil and air that has been demonstrated to prevent dental cavities and tooth decay. For decades, it has been added to community water supplies and dental products such as toothpaste. Simpson told Kennedy, "I've seen the benefits, having been a practicing dentist for 22 years." "You don't prevent cavities by fluoride killing bacteria in the mouth," he explained. "What it does is make the enamel more resistant to decay." "So, I want to see the studies on this and where we're heading with this," Simpson added. RFK doubles down on autism being an 'epidemic' Kennedy told lawmakers that patient privacy would be protected in a new database he's creating for autism research. He also reiterated a previous statement that had been debunked by the medical and autism communities. "Autism is an epidemic," Kennedy said. "Genes do not cause epidemics. They can contribute a vulnerability, but you need an environmental toxin." On May 7, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a partnership to research the causes of the autism spectrum disorder, creating a database of autism-diagnosed Medicare and Medicaid enrollees. "It's entirely voluntary, patient privacy is protected, the data is digitalized and depersonalized... and patients have an absolute right to opt out of it," Kennedy said. Autism rates increased, again: But RFK Jr. diverges from CDC report about the reason. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed an executive order shortly after the federal autism database was announced, restricting state agencies from collecting and sharing autism-related data without patients' consent. Autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, is the clinical name for the condition most people refer to as autism. Autism is defined as "a complex developmental condition that affects communication, social interaction and behavior," says Christopher Banks, president and CEO of the Autism Society of America. Protesters charged hearing: 'RFK kills people with AIDS' Protesters interrupted Kennedy a few minutes after he began his afternoon testimony before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. About five audience members rose from their seats and began charging toward the Health secretary, shouting, "RFK kills people with AIDS." Some of the HHS cuts have impacted the United States Agency for International Development, and experts have said the harms trickled down to global humanitarian organizations working on lifesaving programs, including ones that offered HIV health care, worked on landmine removal and provided food aid. Capitol police escorted the protesters from the room. Some were tackled and fell to the floor. Some were forcibly removed. Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen was among roughly half a dozen demonstrators removed from the room. The ice cream company, known for supporting liberal causes and candidates, did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for comment. RFK Jr. declined to talk about the CDC reorganization When Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations committee, asked why HHS eliminated the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, Kennedy said he couldn't address that question. "We are under a court order not to do any further planning on the reorganization, and I've been advised by my attorneys not to comment," Kennedy told the Connecticut lawmaker. "But I will just say broadly, many of the programs that the Democrats are now saying were cut (at) the CDC were not cut at all." On May 9, a federal judge said the Trump administration must temporarily halt its sweeping government overhaul because Congress did not authorize it to carry out large-scale staffing cuts or to restructure agencies. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston in San Francisco sided with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments, and blocked large-scale mass layoffs known as "reductions in force" for 14 days. Dozens of lawsuits have challenged DOGE's work on various grounds, including violating privacy laws and exceeding its authority, with mixed results. But DeLauro didn't let Kennedy off the hook. She berated him over a spending bill that funded the government through Sept. 30. Lawmakers contend the Constitution assigns them the responsibility to decide how much to spend. But President Donald Trump and his allies argue that Congress sets limits, the president and his Cabinet may spend less than lawmakers provide. "You have an obligation to carry out the law and implement what Congress has done," Delauro said, shaking her head. "Unbelievable." Massive HHS cuts hit home for many Addiction, lead poisoning and sudden infant death syndrome. Lawmakers were armed with stories from their districts highlighting how the agency cuts had taken a genuine toll on real people. Democratic Rep. Madeleine Dean referenced Kennedy's history of heroin addiction and recovery when she asked why HHS was "shuttering" the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. "In active addiction, you know how difficult it is," she said. "This matters in my district. I've buried way too many kids." Kennedy pushed back against the notion that the administration planned to "shutter" the agency. Instead, he said, this division would be "shifted" into the newly created Administration for Healthy America. Dean noted the progress that had been made in addiction and treatment. The number of Americans who died from overdoses of drugs like fentanyl and meth dropped nearly 30% last year, falling to a level not seen since before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CDC. More babies are dying of SIDS: But the campaign to educate parents is in jeopardy. Experts attribute the decrease to a combination of factors, including the wider availability of the opioid antidote naloxone, along with $50 billion in funding for drug-treatment and youth prevention efforts from the national opioid settlements. "Why would we - when we're finally seeing some success - bury that success?" Dean asked. Kennedy also faced harsh questions from Sen. Tammy Baldwin about cuts to the CDC's Lead Poisoning Prevention program. The Wisconsin Democrat opened her remarks with what she hoped would be an easy question: "Do you think lead poisoning in children is a significant concern?" The Health secretary said yes, he did. Baldwin then brought up the city of Milwaukee, which requested expert assistance from the CDC to help it address a growing problem of older elementary school students with lead poisoning, she said. The request was denied due to a lack of staff. "You cannot tell us that you want to 'Make America Healthy Again' when you're willfully destroying programs that keep children safe and healthy from lead poisoning," she said. Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi and Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA TODAY; Reuters. Adrianna Rodriguez can be reached at adrodriguez@
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ben & Jerry's co-founder removed from RFK Jr. hearing for protesting
Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen was removed from a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing featuring Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday for protesting. About 15 minutes into the Wednesday hearing, protestors began to shout, and people were forced out of the room. Amid the chaos, Cohen is seen standing up in the seating area behind Kennedy and shouting, 'Congress pays for bombs.' Shortly after, Cohen was taken away from where he was standing by a police officer but could still be heard yelling. 'I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. This was the authorities' response,' Cohen said in a post on the social media platform X featuring footage of him being taken away by the officer. Cohen has a history of political activism, previously being arrested for disorderly conduct in 2018 amid protesting the presence of F-35 fighter jets based in Vermont. He also supported Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) 2016 and 2020 bids for the presidency. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Cohen and his Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield unveiled the 'Kamala's Coconut Dream' ice cream flavor as part of a get-out-the-vote initiative for former Vice President Harris, referencing a popular meme at the time that came from comments the vice president had previously made. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
15-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Ben & Jerry's co-founder removed from RFK Jr. hearing for protesting
Ben & Jerry's co-founder Ben Cohen was removed from a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing featuring Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday for protesting. About 15 minutes into the Wednesday hearing, protestors began to shout, and people were forced out of the room. Amid the chaos, Cohen is seen standing up in the seating area behind Kennedy and shouting, 'Congress pays for bombs.' Shortly after, Cohen was taken away from where he was standing by a police officer but could still be heard yelling. 'I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs, and they're paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US. This was the authorities' response,' Cohen said in a post on the social media platform X featuring footage of him being taken away by the officer. Cohen has a history of political activism, previously being arrested for disorderly conduct in 2018 amid protesting the presence of F-35 fighter jets based in Vermont. He also supported Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) 2016 and 2020 bids for the presidency. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Cohen and his Ben & Jerry's co-founder Jerry Greenfield unveiled the 'Kamala's Coconut Dream' ice cream flavor as part of a get-out-the-vote initiative for former Vice President Harris, referencing a popular meme at the time that came from comments the vice president had previously made.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Live updates: RFK Jr. to defend massive HHS budget cuts before two key committees
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has some explaining to do. Nearly four months into his new job, Kennedy Jr. is set to testify on May 14 before a pair of Congressional committees who are expected to grill one of President Donald Trump's highest-profile Cabinet members on a range of controversial topics – from proposed budget cuts to his flip-flop on vaccinations as a preventative tool during the nation's measles outbreak. Kennedy, who has a history of making controversial remarks about vaccines, recently backed vaccination as a preventive tool during a measles outbreak, but noted that vaccines should be left to parents' discretion. He's recently rolled out plans to remove artificial food dyes from the U.S. food supply. Members of the House Appropriations Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee are likely to question him about drastic cuts to programs and staffing at Health and Human Services, the department he heads. They may also tackle his push to ban fluoride from drinking water. President Trump's $1.7 trillion 'skinny budget' proposal for fiscal year 2026 reduces non-defense spending by 23% compared with 2025. The budget seeks $94 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services agencies, a reduction of about 26% from the 2025 level and cuts programs and staff at agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the president's budget aims to pump a $500 million infusion into Kennedy's Make America Great Again initiative, which is geared towards ending what he calls the 'chronic disease epidemic.' The program seeks to tackle the issue through nutrition, physical activity, cutting back on medications and improving food and drug quality and safety. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Live updates: RFK Jr. to defend massive HHS budget cuts to Congress
