Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has accused Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his office of having mischaracterized what they'd announced as two "measles-associated" deaths.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health and Gov. Shapiro announced Tuesday that two Lancaster County residents had died in cases the department had deemed as measles-associated, calling them the first such deaths in Pennsylvania in 35 years, and in the United States this year.
“Governor Shapiro's unseemly rush to Lancaster County to convene a national press conference and his giddy delight in announcing two measles deaths was a morose commentary on the contemporary political dialogue,” Kennedy said. “The performance was a replay of the Democrats' COVID playbook: fearmongering, misinformation, finger-pointing, and the weaponization of infectious disease fears for political gain.”
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania officials said that one of the two people who died was a newborn infant.
According to the Lancaster County coroner, however, an autopsy indicated that the infant died from a ruptured or lacerated spleen, rather than measles itself, although the infant had tested positive for the virus. The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death remains ongoing.
Meanwhile, Shapiro in his announcement accused Kennedy and the Trump administration of spreading misinformation about vaccines. “There’s real-life consequences to spreading misinformation,” Shapiro said at a press conference Tuesday, arguing that parents need clear, medically grounded information about vaccination.
In an emailed statement to NTD, the Pennsylvania Department of Health explained that its classification includes cases where measles is present, but isn't necessarily the immediate certified cause of death.
"[Pennsylvania Department of Health] uses the term 'measles-associated' when laboratory or epidemiologic evidence of measles is present, but the disease may not be assessed by the medical certifier or coroner to be the immediate cause of death," the statement reads.
"Not all deaths are referred to a coroner under Pennsylvania law," officials added. "Accordingly, one of the two measles-associated deaths is under investigation by the county coroner—as confirmed by the Lancaster County Coroner, who stated publicly their office is reviewing an infant death with a positive measles test."
Separately, Parsons also objected to Pennsylvania officials' emphasis on the victims' unvaccinated status, arguing that describing the newborn as unvaccinated could misleadingly suggest that it was by choice.
“Also important is the fact that [Pennsylvania] officials emphasized in the press conference that the two individuals were ‘unvaccinated,’" Parsons said in his statement.
“Now, technically that would be true for a baby who was born at home and immediately died. But there would be no possible way for the baby to vaccinated. The framing of this, or underlying assertion in it, seemed to be to indicate that the deceased person was unvaccinated by choice. This shows intent on the part of officials to deceive.”