RFK Jr. : Welcome to
the Medical Dark Age

As measles cases rise, the U.S. Secretary of Health still casts doubts on vaccines

By Irwin Rapoport

March 13, 2025

The recent outbreak of measles has claimed the lives of two unvaccinated Americans, a child in Texas and an adult in New Mexico. It has hospitalized scores of people and is spreading rapidly amongst the unvaccinated with confirmed infections in 13 American states and the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba.

The outbreak started at nearly the same time prominent anti-vaccine advocate and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was ratified by the Senate to become Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, which is curious and eerie.

For years, Kennedy, as the chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a major anti-vaccine non-profit group that has launched legal challenges against vaccine producers, campaigned against medically approved, tried and tested vaccinations that have saved countless lives. In 2019, during a visit to Samoa, he cast doubt on the effectiveness of the measles vaccine and the government in turn suspended a vaccination campaign which led to the deaths of 83 people, mainly children.

For years, Kennedy, as the chairman of Children’s Health Defense, a major anti-vaccine non-profit group… campaigned against medically approved, tried and tested vaccinations that have saved countless lives.

Many who are vaccine-hesitant and those too young to have experienced the era when several viruses ran rampant before vaccinations became part of our medical tool kit, did not endure the terrible effects of these viruses personally or saw friends and relatives laid low by them. And most certainly they do not realize the fear measles outbreaks created in communities at home and abroad.

Measles is deadly and it can lead to permanent damage. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that it is:

“One of the most contagious diseases humans have ever faced. An ancient disease, it was described as early as the 9th century by Persian physician and scholar Abū Bakr Muhammad Zakariyyā Rāzī (also known by the Europeanized name Rhazes).”

“It became more widespread as global exploration increased in the 16th century Regions of the world without previous exposure to the measles virus were particularly vulnerable: outbreaks of the virus took devastating effect in isolated communities such as the Faroe Islands in 1846, Hawaii in 1848, Fiji in 1875 and Rotuma in 1911.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recounts the grim history of the virus in the U.S.:

“In 1912, measles became a nationally notifiable disease in the United States, requiring U.S. healthcare providers and laboratories to report all diagnosed cases. In the first decade of reporting, an average of 6,000 measles-related deaths were reported each year.”

“A vaccine became available in 1963. In the decade before, nearly all children got measles by the time they were 15 years old. It is estimated that 3 to 4 million people in the United States were infected each year. Among reported measles cases each year, an estimated 400 to 500 people died, 48,000 were hospitalized and 1,000 suffered encephalitis (swelling of the brain).”

‘In 1912, measles became a nationally notifiable disease in the United States, requiring U.S. healthcare providers and laboratories to report all diagnosed cases. In the first decade of reporting, an average of 6,000 measles-related deaths were reported each year.’

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Measles was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 2000 thanks to the hard work of dedicated researchers to end the scourge. States the CDC: “In 1963, John Enders and colleagues transformed their Edmonston-B strain of measles virus into a vaccine and licensed it in the United States. In 1968, an improved and even weaker measles vaccine, developed by Maurice Hilleman and colleagues, began to be distributed. This vaccine, called the Edmonston-Enders (formerly Moraten) strain has been the only measles vaccine used in the United States since 1968.”

Parents in the U.S., Canada, and other countries breathed a huge sigh of relief. I was born in 1964 and was a beneficiary, as have successive generations of children. Polio outbreaks terrified every community it touched and the vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk in the mid-1950s saved the day.

I was unaware of how lucky I was to be vaccinated for measles. I’m not sure when I received my vaccine, but I do recall being vaccinated for several viruses at Merton Elementary School in Cote Saint Luc. We lined up outside the school nurse’s office.

Better still, those born before 1963 were also vaccinated. The campaign to vaccinate every North American was audacious and illustrated the effectiveness of government to protect citizens.

The measles campaign went global, similar to polio. “In 1974, measles was among the first diseases targeted by the WHO when it established the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI, now the Essential Programme on Immunization) to develop and expand immunization programmes throughout the world,” stated the WHO. “Widespread childhood vaccination against measles has drastically reduced disease rates worldwide. WHO now recommends vaccination at nine months for babies in areas where measles is common, and at 12 to 15 months for those in other areas.”

‘In 1974, measles was among the first diseases targeted by the WHO when it established the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI, now the Essential Programme on Immunization) to develop and expand immunization programmes throughout the world.’

– WHO (World Health Organization)

Rather than honour the life-saving efforts of the WHO, Trump recently signed an executive order for the U.S. to withdraw from the vital United Nations organization, a disaster in the making. Trump is ignorant and more and more people in official positions are publicly stating he is insane.

A sane and normal HHS secretary, when confronted with a measles outbreak, would call on the unprotected to get their shots ASAP. However, we are dealing with RFK Jr. who last Monday night on social media, according to a Raw Story article, was suggesting that diet may be to blame for a Texas child’s death of measles.

“It’s very, very difficult for measles to kill a healthy person,” Kennedy said, according to The New York Times. He later added that “we see a correlation between people who get hurt by measles and people who don’t have good nutrition or who don’t have a good exercise regimen.”

The prominent longtime conspiracy theorist then said of the specific child from western Texas who recently died of measles that malnutrition “may have been an issue.”

When Trump announced Kennedy as his nominee for HHS secretary, the medical community was aghast and letters signed by numerous physicians were sent out, including one featuring 15,000 doctors, to the media and senators whom Kennedy was visiting to secure support.

Kennedy’s appointment still raises ire and disbelief, and they worry that his reaction to measles will be similar to future pandemics, such as the strong possibility of a bird flu outbreak. Elon Musk’s DOGE crew fired the team researching and monitoring the ongoing bird flu outbreak spreading across American farms, only to quickly realize the mistake and rehire them.

On March 7, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes interviewed Dr. Peter Ortiz, Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development in Texas Children’s Hospital, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and the author of The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science, who skewered Kennedy:

Dr. Vin Gupta, an NBC News contributor, was interviewed on MSNBC where he fact-checked Kennedy and Children’s Health Defense, and stressed the urgency of being vaccinated ASAP:

MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow took Kennedy to task for the lies and misleading information he told reporters at a late February cabinet meeting:

Kennedy, at the onset of the outbreak, said it was “not unusual,” even though there had not been any deaths since 2000. He was purposely misleading the media and public. However, he slightly changed his tune via a Fox News editorial published earlier this month, where he wrote: “[The]measles outbreak is a call to action for all of us,” that “this situation has escalated rapidly,” and “all parents should consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine.”

With measles literally in the air, every second counts as it spreads rapidly, and Kennedy still refuses to accept reality and call on the unvaccinated to secure protection and anti-vaxx parents to immunize their children. We can only imagine the frustration of Dr. Ortiz and Dr. Gupta as they witness Kennedy’s dangerous antics and hear bizarre utterances.

During the 2024 presidential election campaign, Donald Trump, who was endorsed by Kennedy, bragged at an October 27 rally in New York City how he would appoint Kennedy to a key position in his administration and let him “go wild” on health, food, and medicine if elected. Trump kept this promise.

Hopefully, the measles outbreak will soon subside and anti-vaxxers finally see the light. The Kennedy nightmare is just beginning. He is currently pursuing a campaign to rid of members serving on a CDC Advisory who disagree with his views. In one recent interview, Kennedy said: “I think 97 percent of the people on it had conflicts. I think we have to end those conflicts and make sure that scientists are doing unobstructed science.”

‘With measles literally in the air, every second counts as it spreads rapidly, and Kennedy still refuses to accept reality and call on the unvaccinated to secure protection and anti-vaxx parents to immunize their children.’

Another article reported that nearly 80,000 HHS employees were offered a $25,000 payment to resign last Friday. And CBS News reports, according to a source, that they have until 5 pm on March 14 to accept the “voluntary separation incentive payment.” Kennedy told Fox News last Sunday that “I have a list in my head” of people to be fired.

The U.S. has made significant investments to ensure it is a global leader in the field of medical research. Trump and Kennedy are dismantling it as if it was a deadly disease and like Humpty Dumpty, it will be very difficult to put the HHS and each of its first-class agencies back together again.

Allow me to say welcome to the Medical Dark Age.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.

Feature image: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Donald Trump, by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0 – Wikimedia Commons