RFK Jr. Tells CDC To Go All In On Bogus Vitamin ‘Cures’ For Measles

Amid the largest measles outbreak successful decades, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services is spearheading a caller effort to find treatments for the infectious illness for Americans who “choose not to vaccinate.”

HHS announced Friday that Kennedy, a salient spreader of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and propaganda, is directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to travel up with much measles treatments ― adjacent though decades of probe person ne'er turned up effectual treatments for measles, reinforcing the value of the highly effectual vaccine.

“Secretary Kennedy volition beryllium enlisting the full bureau to activate a technological process to dainty a big of diseases, including measles, with azygous oregon aggregate existing drugs successful operation with vitamins and different modalities,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said successful a statement.

The directive comes due to the fact that Kennedy and section officials “recognize that immoderate individuals and communities crossed the U.S. whitethorn take not to vaccinate,” Nixon continued.

“This effort volition impact collaboration with universities nationwide to make protocols, behaviour testing, and prosecute support for caller uses of harmless and effectual therapeutics that conscionable the highest technological standards,” Nixon said.

The directive comes arsenic Kennedy ramps up his promotion of a scope of unproven treatments for measles, a illness that tin origin pneumonia, encephalitis, gestation complications, blindness and death.

Kennedy has promoted cod liver with vitamin A arsenic a imaginable occurrence cure for measles, but experts accidental that astir of the studies supporting vitamin A arsenic a imaginable measles attraction were conducted successful the 1980s and 1990s insub-Saharan Africa, wherever a deficiency successful that vitamin is acold much prevalent.

Research connected vitamin A’s interaction connected measles successful radical without deficiencies remains inconclusive, but with Kennedy’s prompting, immoderate parents successful West Texas ― the halfway of the 900-person measles outbreak ― person fixed it to their children successful precocious doses. Doctors successful the country accidental galore of those children person been showing signs of liver damage, a broadside effect of excessive vitamin A intake.

And connected Monday, Kennedy said HHS was deploying doctors to Texas to dainty measles with “aerosolized steroids with budesonide with clarithromycin and others.” Neither budesonide nor clarithromycin is proven to dainty measles, and suggesting their usage is dangerous, the American Academy of Pediatrics said successful a blunt connection past month.

“Promoting medications to dainty measles, peculiarly erstwhile those medications are not recommended, suggests that measles is treatable, which it is not. The astir important mode to combat measles is done prevention with the MMR vaccine,” AAP said.

Though Kennedy has encouraged radical to get the MMR vaccine ― which is 97% effectual astatine preventing measles successful the archetypal spot ― helium consistently undermines his ain advice.

On Wednesday, helium baselessly claimed that the measles vaccine “contains a batch of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles.” And successful a TV quality Monday, helium told parents to “do your ain research” connected vaccines, echoing a communal refrain among anti-vaccine skeptics.

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