Key facts
- Senators are demanding a criminal investigation into Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for alleged false testimony to Congress.
- New documents suggest Kennedy Jr. misled lawmakers about his 2019 trip to Samoa, indicating he inquired about the country's MMR vaccines.
- Kennedy Jr. has recently posted anti-vaccine rhetoric on social media following two measles deaths in Pennsylvania.
- One of the Pennsylvania measles deaths was a newborn baby, whose death Kennedy Jr. suggested might have been fabricated.
- The Department of Health and Human Services has defended Kennedy Jr., denying accusations of lying.
Senators are demanding a criminal investigation into U.S. Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., citing new documents that suggest he misled Congress about his 2019 trip to Samoa and its connection to vaccines. Kennedy Jr. had previously stated the trip was unrelated to vaccines, but the documents indicate he inquired about the country's MMR vaccines. The Department of Health and Human Services has defended Kennedy Jr., calling accusations of lying false.
This situation unfolds as Kennedy Jr. has been posting anti-vaccine rhetoric on social media following two measles deaths in Pennsylvania, the first such fatalities in the state in 35 years. One of the deceased was a newborn baby. Kennedy Jr. has questioned the validity of these deaths, suggesting they may have been fabricated, and has criticized the MMR vaccine. While the Lancaster County Coroner stated the newborn died of a ruptured spleen and did not feel it was related to measles, vaccine expert Paul Offit indicated that the deaths would likely not have occurred without measles.
Kennedy Jr.'s past activism as a fervent opponent of immunizations has resurfaced amid these events. His allies have a history of downplaying deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases, sometimes by attributing deaths to complications rather than the infection itself. This pattern was seen in a previous Texas measles outbreak where an advisor to Kennedy Jr. downplayed a child's death, blaming pre-existing conditions.