Parents' refusal to give newborns vitamin k shots is increasing preventable deaths in US

Babies across the United States are dying from vitamin K deficiency bleeding, a preventable condition, after parents refuse the standard newborn vitamin K injection.

ProPublica's Duaa Eldeib reports multiple infants experienced catastrophic bleeding in their brains, seizures, and respiratory failure within weeks of birth. Along with autopsies revealing deaths that could have been prevented with a simple, inexpensive shot.

A national study published in December found vitamin K refusal rates jumped 77% between 2017 to 2024, now affecting 5% of newborns in the U.S. Parents are declining the shot based on false information circulating on social media, including long-debunked claims that it causes leukemia or contains mercury.

Babies without the injection are 81 times more likely to develop vitamin K deficiency bleeding, according to the CDC, with a 20% mortality rate among affected infants.

Federal health agencies lack adequate tracking systems for these preventable deaths, while U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has refused to publicly affirm the shot's safety during congressional testimony, further fueling parental hesitancy.

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