Tag: measles

A man wearing a green cap with the words “MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN” adjusts the brim while standing outdoors, with blurred trees and grass in the background.

MAHA and “soft eugenics” revisited: The “autism tsunami,” Dr. Oz, and your “patriotic duty” to stay healthy

Two weeks ago, I referred to the "soft eugenics" of RFK Jr. and MAHA. This week, he and Dr. Oz provide new examples, one about autism, the other about public health.

/ April 21, 2025
A man wearing a green cap with the words “MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN” adjusts the brim while standing outdoors, with blurred trees and grass in the background.

Measles, MAHA, and “soft eugenics”

I've long said that the antivax movement is borderline eugenicist (or at least social Darwinist) in nature. Now that a second child has died of measles, it's time for me to take a look at the "soft eugenics" of the antivax movement and, more generally, the MAHA movement.

/ April 7, 2025
World map showing measles cases by country in 2018. Dark red indicates the highest number of cases (over 45,000), while light beige indicates the lowest (under 400). Notable high-case regions include Madagascar and Ukraine.

Vitamin A Does Not Treat or Prevent Measles

It didn’t take long for concerns about RFKs unscientific ideological approach to healthcare to manifest. We are in the middle of a measles outbreak – the exact kind of situation for which we need a strong federal response. The person in charge of that response, RFK Jr., is a notorious anti-vaccine crank who is not a scientist or healthcare expert, even though...

/ March 12, 2025
informed consent vs. misinformed refusal

Misinformed refusal: What antivaxxers are really promoting when they invoke “informed consent”

Our new Secretary of Health and Human Services wants to change CDC messaging about vaccines to emphasize "informed consent." What he really means is misinformed refusal.

/ March 10, 2025
Measles rash

Measles is back, and so are all the old antivax tropes about it

Measles is back, and so are all the old antivax tropes about the disease and the vaccine. Unfortunately, there's an antivaxxer in charge.

/ March 3, 2025
Gaslighting gaslighter

Gaslighting RFK Jr.’s role in the deadly Samoan measles outbreak

One of many shameful incidents in the life of antivax activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was his promotion of anti-MMR fear mongering during a measles epidemic in Samoa. Now that he could become HHS Secretary, his apologists are frantically trying to gaslight you. Here's how.

/ December 30, 2024

Any Doctor Who Enabled RFK Jr. In Any Way Is Anti-Vaccine No Matter How They Describe Themselves

If you associate yourself with Sensible Medicine, you are anti-vaccine no matter how you describe yourself.

/ November 23, 2024

Another Year, Another Measles Outbreak

Another year is here, and that means more measles outbreaks here and around the world as far too many children (and some parents) lack protection from the safe and effective vaccine.

/ January 19, 2024

Doctors on Measles: “NEVER Listen to the Anti-Vax Cult When They Say This ‘Natural’ Disease is Harmless”. Doctors on COVID: 😂

Measles and COVID are different, of course, but they are not categorically different. With both viruses, unvaccinated children suffer the most. Yet, doctors who rightly said "measles can be a devastating childhood illness" also said it was "breathless fear-mongering" to acknowledge that COVID can also be a devastating childhood illness.

/ September 22, 2023