Texas children poisoned after RFK Jr touts vitamin A as measles treatment

www.telegraph.co.uk

Summary

Texas hospitals are treating children with vitamin A poisoning linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s promotion of the supplement as a measles treatment.

At Covenant Children’s hospital in Lubbock, patients with measles showed abnormal liver function due to excessive vitamin A intake.

Kennedy, the U.S. health secretary, claimed vitamin A dramatically reduces measles mortality. Experts warn his messaging confuses parents and downplays the proven protection of the MMR vaccine.

The U.S. faces its worst measles outbreak in decades, with nearly 500 cases across 21 states and two confirmed deaths.

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FenrirIII @lemmy.world

3mo ago

Texas children poisoned after RFK Jr touts vitamin A as measles treatment

www.telegraph.co.uk /global-health/science-and-disease/texas-children-poisoned-rfk-jr-vitamin-a-measles-treatment/

85 comments

Experts warn his messaging confuses parents and downplays the proven protection of the MMR vaccine
Oh look RFK is getting people nearly killed. Who could have seen this coming?
- More importantly, look how no one is getting into trouble for endangering children.
  
  Especially the guy who is actively harming children.
  
  Republicans only care about children that aren't born (i.e. aren't children) yet.
  
  Well, they're not fetuses so conservatives don't care.
  
  When the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says to do a thing for your child's health, how would you go about proving abuse? They're literally following government "guidelines".
  If these idiots kill their children out of ignorance and stupidity, power to 'em. I lost all empathy for idiots during COVID. No one can ask me to give a shit any longer. And yes, fuck their kids too. This is Darwinism in action. Let it ride.
  
  All of the benefits, none of the responsibilities.
  
  Who would give him trouble? His boss rutinely hangs out with child abusers and could very well be one himself.
- Definitely not the people of American Samoa.
  Edit: It's interesting that RFK Jr is now only briefly mentioned in the body of that article, but several of the source links at the bottom explicitly reference him in their titles.
- Oh, he's getting people killed. Again.
- theres no confusion, his worms know what they are doing.
- Maybe Sirhan Sirhan should've hit the kid rather than the father.
Health insurance companies shouldn't cover these people who refuse to vaccinate.
- Health insurance companies shouldn't exist
- People don't get the right to endanger our most vulnerable because they are stupid and religious.
  I guess I should say stupid or religious but I have a feeling the initial statement is correct.
  I agree with your other comment on not trusting insurance agencies though.
  
  This would still respect choice while cutting back on the utilization of emergency services covered by insurance companies. It could lead to reduced costs and people who pay into insurance shouldn't be forced to pay for the negative health outcomes of people who willingly flout preventative health measures. It drives up costs for everyone.
  
  Sure sure, but should parent be allowed to forego low-risk, high-efficacy medical advice to the long term detriment of their child's and other children's health? Children, who are unable to legally advocate for themselves...
  
  Well if the people that tell you what to take are the ones that you go to when you are Ill because you didn't want to listen to them, they should be able to refuse you.
  
  Why go to the doctors then? Just take whatever pink medicine your best friend/shaman/faith healer recommends and accept your fate. Why after choosing your medication and you and yours get fucked up, you rush to the hospital?
  
  Tough shit plague rat
We need to make suing government employees that make decisions easier. Things like discrimination for anyone that makes determinations for program eligibility, etc.
And definitely cabinet positions when decisions clearly are in opposition to available research and lead directly to outcomes like this, where a direct correlation is not only obvious but even easily provable in court.
Blanket Immunity to cover for incompetent government employees is complete bullshit and doesn't serve the interests of the nation or it's citizens at all.
- Yeah this is one of those suggestions that sounds great on the surface but will just completely break government. Every single decision will result in a lawsuit, and the only beneficiaries will be lawyers. The inability to sue the cabinet isnt the problem, it's the degenerates the American people vote in there.
  There's is no electoral system system and no regulation that can save voters from themselves.
Why are these people ok with isolated vitamin supplements (which are not natural), but not ok with a vaccine? I don't understand the line they draw.
- They're contrarians and conspiracists. They will go with whatever the established authorities recommend against.
  
  Add in just a pinch of traditionalists who think herbal supplements are better than modern medicine and that the human body is composed of 7 ancient energies capable of healing all wounds if you eat right, or some bullshit.
- Because opinion is more important than fact, and choice is more important than logic.
- Because they are operating on propaganda, not logic.
- "I don't know what's in the vaccine" is the dumbest excuse too. The information is available, and if you don't trust the information, why would trust the label that tells you those pills are vitamin A. They could put anything in that pill with Vitamin A.
RFK is so ridiculously stupid.
- It's time to bring RFK to schools with measles outbreaks. Let him personally reassure people that the vaccine is a choice.
  What, you're worried about catching measles? Why the fuck would you?
  
  I guarantee that RFK has had the MMR vaccine.
- But he once threatened a cop with a falcon, so that's cool
  
  well ok, +1 for that. But let me check his total score.
- Um. Think for a moment, who'd be granting these licenses?
  
  I can! Am I qualified? Doubt it. That makes me the perfect candidate it seems.
  
  your local christian priest of course.
- licensing for parenting
  "I'm sorry, you're not white so you can't be a parent" is, historically, how that'd go.
  
  There's still tens of thousands of people alive right now that were forcefully sterilized up until the late 70s. 10 years ago we passed laws to help the victims. We can find and talk to people who have had their "parenting license" taken away by the state.
  
  I hate that you are right.
- Who is granting these licenses and what are the criteria?
  In the US right now, it seems that you may be required to reject vaccinations and to poison your children. The guy in charge of the agency eats roadkill and had a worm eating his brain (not attacks—facts out of his own mouth).
  Be careful what you wish for.
- While you're at it, also licenses for government officials please! The man is minister of health damn.
- At least some mandatory education would be a good idea.
If parents and doctors aren't getting in trouble for killing their kids with quack drugs, why are they getting in trouble for giving real medication when their "child" is still in the womb?
- Doctors aren't giving the kids the Vitamin A, doctors are sounding the alarm that children are coming in with Vitamin A poisoning.
  
  Sounds like a quick call to CPS is in order, if they are still around and haven't been dumped by dumpy.
But the Alchemist in Chief guarantees it works! Did you use fresh newt or canned?
- I used polar bear liver.
  
  Tsk, you needed grizzly bear taint.
  Simple fix. Boil 12 tangerines until the skin fall off then air fry the skin until crisp. Crush together in bowl with freshly plucked potatoe. Add some bone and broth, baby, you got a stew goin.
Any parent taking what RFK Jr says as fact is neglecting their child.
Can we just quarantine the entire state? Or just… I don’t know-
Push it out into the ocean?
- There's a lot of landmass between Texas and the ocean but you know what, I'm on board.
Wonder if he could be sued for practicing medicine without a license ?
Parents overdose their kids on vitamin A, you can't really blame RFK for them being stupid enough to give doses several orders of magnitude higher than the RDA.
But then if they're stupid enough to take health advice from RFK (or any politician, really), it's a good example of correlation != Causation.
- Yes I can. His messaging directly caused this, and he's in a position of power and influence over people's healthcare decisions.
  
  The problem is these people don't listen to health experts but for whatever reason they listened to this health expert. Clearly it's not about his position of power but rather who they choose to listen to or not listen to.
- can't really blame RFK for them being stupid enough to give doses several orders of magnitude higher than the RDA.
  Yes you can. If an idiot in power uses their power to convince stupid people to hurt their children, the person in power is still responsible.
  But then if they're stupid enough to take health advice from RFK (or any politician, really),
  Yeah, what kind of fucking moron takes health advice from checks notes the secretary of health and human services?
  Granted, you're right in that people shouldn't be listening to this specific director because he's dumber than a bag of hammers, but saying people shouldn't be listening to people in HHS (in general circumstances, not in this age of crazy pills) is as dumb as them listening to rfk.
- Only stupid people take health advice from the secretary of health.
  
  Especially from worms
  
  and people with no MD/PHD in health or diseases. its almost alway quacks.
  
  Only stupid people take health advice from Trump's secretary of health, yes

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