A senator who is also a physician says today's measles cases could become what people will remember most about President Trump's health record. At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy called the worst US measles outbreak in 35 years "a terrible legacy for this administration," pointing to four measles-linked deaths in Pennsylvania this year and accusing officials of pushing "zero scientific" vaccine advice that leaves Americans exposed. The nation has already logged more measles cases this year than in any year since 1991, the Washington Post reports.
The remarks were made during a confirmation hearing for Dr. Nicole Saphier, Trump's latest nominee for surgeon general. Trump is pursuing an overhaul of childhood vaccinations, including an order to split the combined measles-mumps-rubella shot into three separate vaccines and reduce the overall number of recommended childhood shots, and senators pushed Saphier on the issue. After wavering, Cassidy had voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has advocated against vaccines, as Health and Human Services secretary. Cassidy said he voted yes after receiving assurances from Kennedy that he violated once in office, per the Guardian.
Saphier, a radiologist, told senators she does not believe childhood vaccines cause autism—a source of Cassidy-Kennedy friction—and called MMR "our greatest tool" against measles, even as she declined to defend Trump's description of the shot as "quite lethal," per the Post. Evidence from decades of studies and real-world use of vaccines have proven there is no link between vaccines and autism, the AP points out.
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