Protesters demonstrate as U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (not pictured) visits the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. April 7, 2025. REUTERS/Jim Urquhart
Doctors were bewildered by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s directive for federal agencies to seek new measles treatments — including vitamins — instead of promoting long-established safe and effective vaccinations, according to The New York Times.
“This is akin to saying, ‘Go ahead and eat whatever you want, don’t exercise, smoke like a chimney — we’re going to invest all of our resources in heart transplants,’” the Times quoted Dr. Jonathan Temte, a former chairman of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine advisory committee.
The nation is in the grips of the "largest single measles outbreak in 25 years," the Times reported. "On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported more than 930 cases nationwide, most of which are associated with the Southwest outbreak" that killed two young girls.
"The decision is the latest in a series of actions by the nation’s top health official that experts fear will undermine public confidence in vaccines as an essential public health tool," wrote reporter Teddy Rosenbluth.
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And, even though RFK Jr. is a well-known anti-vaxxer, doctors found his position on measles "to contradict his longstanding focus on disease prevention instead of treatment," she wrote.
According to the Times report, current treatments revolve around "supportive care" to help make patients "more comfortable while the virus runs its course, like Tylenol to bring down their fever, supplemental oxygen and IV fluids."
“We don’t want to send the signal that you don’t have to get vaccinated because there’s just a way to get rid of it,” Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Brown University School of Public Health, told the Times.
HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon said the decision to look for new treatments "is meant to help people who chose not to vaccinate," although, he added that "the CDC still recommends the measles, mumps and rubella shot as the most effective way to prevent measles."