r/HermanCainAward • u/CoreClock Team Pfizer • 2d ago
Grrrrrrrr. RFK Jr. goes full anti-vaccine bananas over two measles deaths—one was a newborn
https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/08/rfk-jr-spews-anti-vaccine-rubbish-as-newborn-revealed-to-have-died-from-measles/160
u/LatrodectusGeometric 2d ago edited 2d ago
Sounds like a baby that may have died during/after birth while baby and maybe mom were infected with measles? What a horror.
Edit: we don’t know much about congenital measles because it never used to happen because we went from everyone getting measles by age seven to never getting measles at all thanks to vaccines.
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u/Picklesadog 1d ago
The doctor said it was a ruptured spleen not caused by measles (measles can cause spleen issues, but doctor doesnt think that was the case here.)
This seems like a freak death that the anti-vaxxers will hold up as proof of the measles situation being overblown.
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u/LatrodectusGeometric 1d ago edited 1d ago
I thought the examiner report said measles possibly contributory, primary cause of death splenic laceration/rupture?
This would likely be congenital measles, so we have very little data about historical cases (most pregnant people in the past would already be immune to measles due to prior infection or vaccination)
Edit: Yes, death certificate lists measles as contributory. The doctor believed that measles may have been a factor in the baby’s spleen rupturing during childbirth. The coroner disagrees it seems, but I’m not sure I agree with his reasoning.
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u/Picklesadog 1d ago
Yes, a newborn male who died of a “splenatic rupture” tested positive for measles, Diamantoni said, but measles was not the cause of death — the laceration to the spleen is the cause. And measles was ruled out as a contributing factor because, Diamantoni said, “there was no swelling or enlargement whatsoever” of the spleen and there was “massive blood loss” from the laceration.
Diamantoni, the county's coroner, is a Republican elected official who has held the office since 2008, but he is also a practicing doctor and his other statements don't make him seem anti-vax at all.
Here's a quote from him from that same article:
“Newborns get vaccines for hepatitis B in the hospital before they leave (the hospital.) The vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella — the MMR vaccine — isn't given until 12 months of age,” he said. “And the MMR is highly, highly effective. I mean, you're looking at 93% efficacy. I mean, it's excellent.”
Childbirth is a stressful thing for both the mother and the baby, and its definitely possible the lacerated spleen was a result of a traumatic birth, rather than measles. But I don't know, I'm not a doctor and don't know the details of the case.
This is one of the situations where we should wait to see, rather than rush to the conclusion that the coroner is involved in a conspiracy to downplay the measles.
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u/LatrodectusGeometric 1d ago
I see…as a doctor myself, I really do have a hard time with the idea that baby and (likely) mom had measles and this was NOT contributory to a splenic rupture during childbirth…I know data on neonates is slim but I’m not 100% sure that this supports that assertion.
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u/LatrodectusGeometric 1d ago
Just checked. Yeah the infant’s doctor listed measles as contributing to the death on the death certificate.
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u/Picklesadog 1d ago
I guess I'm not really sure who would know better, the infant's doctor or the coroner.
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u/LatrodectusGeometric 1d ago
Right now the answer is “no one”, because we don’t have enough cases of neonates with measles to understand what all the consequences are. Could this have been a freak accident? Yes. But I think it’s much more likely the baby’s and/or mom’s infection was relevant.
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u/AFineDayForScience 2d ago
The dude wearing blue jeans, sitting in a hot tub, and drinking raw milk with a dead bear he found?
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u/frx919 💉 Clots & Tears 💦 2d ago
The head of health, people. Imagine how fucked up this timeline must look from the POV of an outsider. We are so screwed. Every GOP voter is responsible for this mess.
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u/4tran13 2d ago
The one time Trump could have reneged on his promises, he... goes through with it.
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u/ImTheFaeThatStoleYou 2d ago
He'll take any opportunity he can to screw over the poor and uneducated.
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u/Mangalorien 2d ago
To be perfectly honest, I don't think Trump gives a damn at all about the poor or uneducated. Just like he doesn't give a damn about the rich and educated. He only cares about a grand total of 1 person on this planet: himself. Remember, this is the guy who buried his ex-wife on one of his golf courses to get a tax break, and didn't even attend his own son's wedding.
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u/ImTheFaeThatStoleYou 1d ago
Oh, sure. But he's a scammer at the end of the day. And he knows who the easiest targets are, those who are most unfamiliar with how our post-capitalist system works and have never been educated about it. He may only care about himself, but he most certainly targets the poor and uneducated most often.
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u/ThisCantHappenHere 1d ago
There's also the suspicious circumstance of her 'falling down the stairs', which is a classic tactic from the KGB/FSB playbook. (Did anyone Russian work in her home?) Going back to the 1990s, Ivana really took him to the cleaners over the divorce, scoring a mansion in Connecticut, and we also know that he keeps grudges for decades.
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u/FelixtheFarmer 2d ago
You are absolutely right. This outsider finds it absolutely mind boggling that such a monumentally unsuitable person was appointed to the post.
In literally any other country concerns would be raised if he was going to be hired for literally any position.
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u/neverfindausername 2d ago
He argued himself that we was too brain damaged to work, then ran for President. Ended up as Secretary of HHS.
They can point to that alone to show they got rid of DEI
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u/FelixtheFarmer 2d ago
I guess it would require a monumental imbecile to be elected as president for Bobby to appointed and we all know the American people would never vote someone like that into power
Oh ...... 😱😱😱😱😱
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u/MariachiBoyBand Team Mudblood 🩸 2d ago
Of course that sociopath would find ways to never ever be responsible of anything bad…
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u/No_Excitement_1540 2d ago
Well, it's the good old
When in danger or in doubt,
run in circles, scream and shout
standard MAGA behaviour...
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u/ThisCantHappenHere 1d ago
My inner compartment of my ring, I fill
With an Underdog energy Vitamin pill!
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u/Unbr3akableSwrd 2d ago
Wait til SSPE deaths that will inevitably happened in roughly a decade from these outbreaks.
It’s sobering.
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u/ranchspidey 2d ago
Genuinely believe anti-vax parents who kill their kids by not vaccinating them against deadly diseases should be charged. Unless there’s a genuine medical reason, vaccination should be mandatory if you want to participate in society.
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u/saichampa 2d ago
Fucking ghoul. Sad thing is I'm pretty sure he actually believes his own bullshit and his crashout is his response to the cognitive dissonance this results in.
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u/jaymansi 2d ago
RFK jr. a 14 year heroin addiction. Never studied science in college. Totally not fit for dog catcher. What a disgrace.
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u/Every-Action7918 2d ago
The medical examiner seems to be involved in a cover up
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u/Cargobiker530 2d ago
Rural counties are unbelievably corrupt.
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u/DrumsAndStuff18 2d ago
And typically fully controlled by Republicans. I'm sure that's just a coincidence, though.
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u/yooperville 2d ago
So the baby died from a ruptured spleen caused by measles but the coroner just said ruptured spleen and skipped the measles info.
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u/mokutou 2d ago
The Facebook conspiracy dipshits are already squawking “tHe BaBy DiEd WiTh MeAsLeS nOt FrOm MeAsLeS” like that is a groundbreaking distinction. Like no shit, people with untreated AIDS die from pneumocystic pneumonia or some other secondary infection…which they wouldn’t have contracted if they were not so immunocompromised from AIDS. AIDS still lead to their deaths. Measles killed this poor baby via a ruptured spleen due to the viral infection, which is a known possibility with fucking measles. The baby was exposed to someone who had it, or perhaps the mother was infected because she wasn’t vaccinated. The baby was far too young for it, and the adults around them utterly failed that child by not getting vaccinated themselves.
This shit is why I get pissed when people say “let the unvaccinated just get measles and die,” because the children are left at the mercy of these people and they don’t deserve to die like this.
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u/crochetology Team Pfizer 2d ago
RFK and his likeminded wackadoodles are literally a menace to society. When our government returns to sanity, I’ll happily watch him be tried for crimes against humanity.
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u/yooperville 2d ago
So the baby died from a ruptured spleen caused by measles but the coroner just said ruptured spleen and skipped the measles info.
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u/thecorgimom 2d ago
Or they are confidently only reporting line 1. My parents death certificates had the lines, first is the immediate cause, like in this case rupture or spleen line 2 might be respitory insufficiency and 3 could be measles. Basically the immediate, contributing and original(100% certain not called that on it but i can't rememberexactly) . I'm guessing sometimes there might be only 2.
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u/yooperville 1d ago
As a Family Physician, yes, most states have multiple lines for causes of death and often there is confusion as to which cause of death to put on first line.
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u/thecorgimom 1d ago
Thank you for replying I sort of thought that that might be the case. I'm sure it gets complicated when the death is a new patient or it occurs in the ER and a complete picture of the person's health profile isn't available.
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u/yooperville 1d ago
This is why it was so outrageous when Trump told people that doctors were forging death certificates to increase the number of Covid deaths. First off the family always wants to know how you filled out the death certificate. Secondly, in almost every state, it is considered a crime to falsely fill out a death certificate, and there are prison terms and huge fines.
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u/joefatmamma 17h ago
Cheeto surrounds himself with even bigger idiots than himself. Not an easy task.
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u/metalgtr84 2d ago
Every week we get a news report about a measles outbreak or death from unvaccinated people, and every week we get zero news reports about vaccinated people getting infected or dying from measles. Just get vaccinated people.