Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is more directly promoting measles vaccinations following the death of a second unvaccinated child. But he continues to highlight remedies that medical experts say do not prevent or treat the virus. As the number of measles cases grows around the country, experts worry that parents and other caregivers are getting mixed messaging about the safety of vaccines.

Over the weekend, Kennedy traveled to Texas for the funeral of an 8-year-old who public health officials say died this month of complications from measles. Kennedy met with the child’s family, as well as the family of a 6-year-old in the state who died in February of measles complications. . (An unvaccinated adult in New Mexico who died recently also had measles, .)

“The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the [measles-mumps-rubella] vaccine,” , the day of the funeral. In the lengthy post, he said he had redeployed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teams to Texas at the request of the state’s governor. He said staff previously helped supply pharmacies and clinics with MMR vaccines, medicines and medical supplies, and supported contact investigations and community outreach.

The MMR vaccine, which is , .

But in , which included photos with the impacted families, Kennedy also noted that he had visited with “two extraordinary healers” — Dr. Richard Bartlett and Dr. Ben Edwards. Kennedy claimed the two men have “treated and healed” about 300 children from at the epicenter of the outbreak using aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin.

Aerosolized budesonide can open airways to . Clarithromycin is an antibiotic that can . But Patsy Stinchfield, an infectious disease nurse practitioner and a past president of the (NFID), told The 19th that neither is a measles antiviral medication.

Stinchfield said to suggest either treatment healed hundreds of children from measles “is distracting.” , though doctors can try to treat secondary symptoms that might emerge from an infection.

“The way that it’s being framed is confusing and misleading and kind of off the main message, which should be to vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate,” she said.

Both “healers” have a history of challenging . Bartlett faced disciplinary action from the Texas Medical Board in 2003 for “unusual use of risk-filled medications,” . At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he claimed vaccines were not needed and a combination of drugs, including budesonide, for treating the virus.

Edwards, who said mass infection is “God’s version of measles immunization,” , runs a facility in Texas where he reportedly treats some people for measles-related ailments with budesonide. A nearby store distributes cod liver oil, . Cod liver oil, which , is not a preventive measure for measles, Stinchfield said, and should not be used in place of the MMR vaccine.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email that Kennedy has offered “clear guidance that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles” and defended the use of budesonide and clarithromycin to treat secondary symptoms.

Dr. Adam Ratner, who serves on an infectious diseases committee for the , said in an email to The 19th that there is no evidence to support the use of either treatment to care for children who have been infected with measles.

“Promoting unproven medications for measles treatment puts children at unnecessary risk, and the only way to prevent measles is by vaccination with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine,” Ratner wrote.

Dr. John Swartzberg, a clinical professor emeritus at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, made the same point in a separate email to The 19th.

“Budesonide and clarithromycin have NO therapeutic role in treating or preventing measles infection,” he wrote. “There is no credible science to support their use for this purpose.”

An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kennedy is traveling to parts of the Southwest this week.

Kennedy’s first expansive remarks on the measles outbreak came in an published on Fox News in early March, when the secretary encouraged parents to consult their health care providers about getting the MMR vaccine. He said at the time that the decision to vaccinate “is a personal one.”

Stinchfield said that messaging can dilute from efforts to end the current outbreaks, .

“When we’re talking about the most contagious virus that we have and how easily it spreads to other children, when someone chooses not to vaccinate … it is not a personal choice anymore,” she said. “You have now endangered other individuals, and especially little children, pregnant women. So an unvaccinated person is potentially a walking infectious risk to others.”

In his , Kennedy recommended that some people administer vitamin A under the supervision of a physician to reduce related measles deaths. Cod liver oil also contains vitamin A.

While people who are malnourished or have a weakened immune system may be treated with vitamin A — along with AAP and NFID — any other use of vitamin A is not recommended, and importantly, .

At Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas — which has treated children infected with measles — a representative confirmed to The 19th that its staff had encountered cases of vitamin A toxicity among unvaccinated children who were initially hospitalized due to measles complications. Some patients used vitamin A for both treatment and measles prevention. As of late March, the staff had reported fewer than 10 vitamin A toxicity cases.

“This topic has garnered extensive attention on social media and other platforms,” according to a statement from Dr. Lara Johnson, pediatric hospitalist and chief medical office of Covenant

Health-Lubbock Service Area, which includes Covenant Children’s Hospital. “While there are potential benefits, it is crucial to consult with your primary care physician before initiating any new treatment regimen.”

Stinchfield said the takeaways from Kennedy’s posts are offering mixed messaging to parents at a time when the federal government should already have more urgent calls for immunization.

“We should be in all hands on deck mode and pouring resources into stopping the measles outbreak and I am not seeing that,” she later wrote in an email.

Kennedy has a long history of anti-vaccine views that he has tried to dispel as he begins to oversee HHS. During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy told lawmakers that .

But since then he has alarmed some people within his own agency. In March, a top vaccine official within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is run under HHS, announced he would .

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Dr. Peter Marks wrote in his resignation letter as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. According to , Marks said he was asked to find data on brain swelling cases and deaths tied to the MMR vaccine — data that Marks said did not exist. Marks has encouraged parents to get the MMR vaccine for their children.

Swartzberg said he appreciates that Kennedy is “finally” stating that the best way to control measles infections and deaths is vaccination, but noted that it’s been months since the first cases were reported. He believes Kennedy’s promotion of vitamin A and other drugs has also steered people, including parents, away from vaccinating their kids.

“This came very late in the game,” he said. “And, he has never stated that the vaccine is safe.”

Stinchfield helped address a measles outbreak in Minnesota within the Somali community and measles outbreaks in the early 1990s. She’s seen firsthand how children suffer from a measles infection. It can include brain swelling, long-term complications and death. have been declining since around the start of the pandemic, a dynamic that some medical experts believe is partially attributed to a growing distrust of the government.

Stinchfield encouraged parents to seek reliable sources of information — including from , and trusted pediatric providers — amid an onslaught of misinformation online.

“You really need to make sure that you’re getting reliable information from people who know what they’re talking about,” she said.

was originally reported by Barbara Rodriguez of . Read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

The Finance Committee vote, which could have ended Kennedy’s bid, appeared to hinge on Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a former physician who was outspoken about his trepidation during last week’s heated hearings. Moments before Tuesday’s session he on X indicating his final position: “With the serious commitments I’ve received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issues we agree on like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes.”

On the second day of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s contentious confirmation hearings, GOP senator and health and education committee chair Bill Cassidy appeared to be balancing his support for President Trump against his serious misgivings about Kennedy heading the Department of Health and Human Services — and how one could harm the other.

“If there’s someone that is not vaccinated because of policies or attitudes you bring to the department, and there’s another 18-year-old who dies of a vaccine-preventable disease … it’ll be blown up in the press,” said Cassidy, referring to a young woman he treated who experienced liver failure as a complication of vaccine-preventable Hepatitis B. “The greatest tragedy will be her death. But I can also tell you an associated tragedy: that it will cast an absolute shadow over President Trump’s legacy.”

Kennedy, whose first day of testimony Tuesday before the Senate Finance Committee , can afford to lose the votes of only three Republican senators if all Senate Democrats vote against him. Cassidy holds particular sway because of his Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee chairmanship and his previous career as a physician. The Senate is expected to vote on Kennedy’s next week. 

Like many of his Republican peers, Cassidy noted his areas of agreement with Kennedy — such as the importance of removing ultra-processed food from American diets — but in a break from his party, he vehemently fought Kennedy on his anti-vaccination rhetoric. 

“You’ve got a megaphone … with that influence comes a great responsibility,” Cassidy said. “Now my responsibility is to determine if you can be trusted to support the best public health.”

“That’s why I’m struggling with your nomination,” he added.

At both hearings this week, Kennedy tried to distance himself from his past anti-vaccination sentiments stating, “News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. I am neither. I am pro-safety … I believe that vaccines played a critical role in health care. All of my kids are vaccinated.”

If confirmed, Kennedy would take control of an agency with a budget and 90,000 employees spread across 13 agencies, including the and the . 

Historically, Kennedy has falsely linked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine schedule to a rise in chronic disease, saying at a town hall last year, “What I’m focused on is the bigger issue of chronic disease, and that is linked to the vaccine schedule in some cases, the explosion of chronic disease.”

When questioned this week, though, he pivoted, arguing that he supported the childhood vaccine schedule, which many state legislatures rely on to determine their school vaccine policies. Currently, all 50 states have vaccine requirements for children entering child care and schools. 

In one particularly tense exchange, Democratic Sen. Angela Deneece Alsobrooks of Maryland asked Kennedy to clarify previous remarks he had made about Black people requiring a different vaccine schedule than those of other races. 

Alsobrooks, who is Black, asked, “What different vaccine schedule should I have received?”

When Kennedy began to respond, saying, “Blacks need fewer antigens,” she cut him off.

“With all due respect,” she said, “that is so dangerous. I will be voting against your nomination.”

Vaccines and autism

At one point, Cassidy pulled up a National Institutes of Health study titled and began to share the data with Kennedy. In response, Kennedy doubled down, despite his earlier claims that if he were shown the data and research he would correct his record of and publicly apologize. 

“There are other studies as well,” Kennedy instead responded, pointing to one, which he said “shows the opposite.” 

“I’d love to show those to you,” he said.

Multiple senators, including Democrats Bernie Sanders and Tammy Baldwin, pointed to the decades of research disproving the connection and expressed concern that Kennedy wasn’t already familiar with or convinced by the body of peer-reviewed research.

“That is a really troubling response,” Sanders said, when Kennedy noted he was open to looking at studies disproving his previous claims. “Those studies are there … it’s your job to have looked at them.”

Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, also a medical doctor, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, though, applauded Kennedy’s willingness to question science and keep an “open mind.”

“My God, if we didn’t question science, where would we be today?” asked Mullin.

“These are the nuances you’re unwilling to talk about,” said Paul, “because there’s such a belief in submission. Submit to the government.” 

He then implied schizophrenia might also be linked to childhood vaccines or food.

School shootings and mental health

In 2024, Kennedy appeared to link school shootings with Prozac and other drugs used to treat mental illness. “There’s no time in American history or human history that kids were going to schools and shooting their classmates,” Kennedy told the comedian Bill Maher “It really started happening conterminous with the introduction of these drugs, with Prozac and the other drugs.”

On Wednesday, Sen. Tina Smith, Democrat from Minnesota, pushed him on this issue, asking if he still stands by that claim.

“I don’t think anybody can answer that question,” he responded, noting that it should be “studied along with other potential culprits.” He subsequently dodged a question about whether or not SSRIs, a class of drugs used to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions, are dangerous, noting he knows people who have had a harder time getting off of these commonly prescribed drugs than heroin. Kennedy is a former heroin addict.

“These statements you’ve made linking antidepressants to school shootings reinforce stigmas” Smith responded. 

In a heated exchange, Michael Bennet, Democratic senator for Colorado and the former Denver Public Schools superintendent, accused Kennedy of giving disingenuous answers that did not mirror decades of public statements. 

“Unlike other jobs we are confirming around this place,” he said, “this is a job where it is life-and-death for the kids that I used to work with in the Denver Public Schools and for families all over this country … It is too important for the games that you are playing, Mr. Kennedy.”

Medicaid and Medicare missteps

During both hearings, Kennedy flubbed basic questions related to Medicare and Medicaid. On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire grilled him about basic elements of Medicare, which provides coverage to older and disabled Americans. He responded to all questions either incompletely or incorrectly. 

“You want us to confirm you to be in charge of Medicare, but it appears that you don’t know the basics of this program,” said 

At the first hearing on Wednesday, he appeared to mix up Medicare and Medicaid, which covers low-income populations and provides to schools annually for physical, mental and behavioral health services for eligible students. 

A focus on the “MAHA moms,” and ultra-processed foods

Kennedy repeatedly spoke about pediatric chronic health issues — ranging from obesity to allergies — linking them to environmental toxins and ultra-processed foods, issues that serve as the backbone of his “Make America Healthy Again” movement.

“Something is poisoning the American people,” Kennedy said when asked what his recipe to fulfill the MAHA tagline would be. The food supply, he said, is the “primary culprit.”

He said the movement has been led largely by “MAHA moms, from every state, many of them who have traveled to be here yesterday and today. This is one of the most powerful and transcendent movements I’ve ever seen.”

Multiple Republican senators also referred to the MAHA moms, with one noting he would vote to confirm Kennedy in part to honor that group’s views.

Since 2021, the company has seen more than a tenfold increase in sales from government contracts, primarily with school districts — from $174,000 to $2.13 million, according to , a data service. The , and Akron, Ohio, districts are among those requiring all middle and high school students to slip their phones into the rubbery envelopes each morning and unlock them with a magnet at the end of the day.

“All signs point to 2024 being even busier,” said Sarah Leader, the company’s spokeswoman. With an using the pouches this year, the company has doubled in size to 80 employees to meet the demand. 

“It’s a game changer,” said Patricia Shipe, president of the Akron Education Association. She worked with district leaders to pilot and then adopt the Yondr system this year. Students are less distracted and schools feel calmer, she said. “The transitions between classes are faster because kids are not on their phones.”

Most districts already students from using phones in class for non-academic reasons. But phone-free advocates say tighter restrictions are necessary to refocus students on learning following the pandemic and to minimize the negative impact of social media on .

Such moves typically draw strong reactions. Some parents see phones as integral to staying in touch with their children during emergencies.

But many welcome the opportunity to curb frequent disruption. Teens report being on social media “almost constantly,” according to from the Pew Research Center. Efforts to break their habit, at least during school hours, could get a critical boost if Congress passes that would create a $5 million grant program to cover the costs of “secure containers” like Yondr or wall-mounted .  

“Widespread use of cellphones in schools are at best a distraction for young Americans; at worst, they expose schoolchildren to content that is harmful and addictive,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a Republican, said in about his bipartisan proposal with Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat. “Our legislation will make schools remain centers of learning.”

Congress would still need to approve funding for the program. The legislation also directs the Education and Health and Human Services departments to study the impact of cellphone bans on student achievement, mental health and behavior. 

A ‘security nightmare’

Getting student violence and bullying under control is one reason the Akron school board approved its with Yondr in June for 10,446 pouches. Leaders hope locking up phones during the day will halt a troubling pattern of students not only using them to on social media, but record the altercations on video. 

“It was happening daily in our buildings and multiple times a day,” Shipe said. As in many districts, physical attacks against teachers had also increased. “It was just a real security nightmare.”

Many students have rebelled against the changes. And Shipe warned that opposition to losing what she described as “an appendage” for most teens “gets worse before it gets better.” Online discussion threads among students include ways to destroy the pouches, and demonstrations on TikTok show how bending the magnetic closure prevents them from locking.

But as Shipe notes, those who sabotage the pouches typically keep their phones hidden during class, if only to avoid getting suspended. 

“There are just a lot of positives,” she said. 

Many researchers and advocates agree that school phone bans have more benefits than drawbacks. In October, nearly 70 child advocates, educators and mental health experts sent Education Secretary Miguel Cardona asking him to urge schools to adopt phone-free policies. Late last month, an author of the letter met with a senior department official, but didn’t get the response she wanted. 

“The secretary does not intend to act on our phone-free schools letter,” said Lisa Cline, part of the , a coalition focused on limiting children’s use of digital devices. 

Cardona has yet to reveal his opinion on banning phones, but he’s frequently mentioned the role social media plays in the mental health problems facing students. In March, Cardona said media companies should be for “the experiment they are running on our children.” Two months later, the that the department would work with other agencies to issue model policies for districts on phone use.

An Education Department spokesman said officials are still preparing that guidance and are working “in close partnership” with on the issue.

Under the Senate bill, districts would need to get feedback from parents on cellphone restrictions before applying for funding, and the bill directs Cardona to choose grantees that will “likely yield helpful information” on the impact of phone bans. The program also would allow exceptions for students with disabilities and those who need phones for translation apps or to treat health conditions.

While Yondr’s growth is one piece of evidence on the trend, pointed to the popularity of phone bans among parents. In a sample of nearly 11,000 parents with a child in school, 61% agreed with getting phones out of the classroom. The National Parents Union is currently collecting more data on the issue, but the stance of its president, Keri Rodrigues, is firm.

“The data is clear,” she said. “[Phones] should absolutely be banned during the school day. Every parent I talk to has agreed.”

International points to higher test scores when phones are out of sight, and say students tune in to class more when they’re not scrolling on social media. In Massachusetts, where Rodrigues lives, the state education department already for districts that clamp down on use, and Commissioner Jeffrey Riley has hinted at .

But aren’t on board.

“Parents are afraid because of school shootings,” said Melissa Erickson, executive director of Alliance for Public Schools, a Florida nonprofit that aims to inform parents about education policy. “That’s a statement of the times.”

She called those in favor of strict bans “tone deaf” to the way students socialize. Kids depended on devices to stay connected to friends and teachers during the pandemic. Banning them, she said, sends a mixed message.

“We told them that one-to-one is everything and now we’re taking it away,” she said. 

‘The extreme end’

Florida has gone further than any state to curb use during school hours. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed in May that prohibits students from accessing social media, especially TikTok, and from using phones except when teachers approve their use for educational purposes.

Districts, however, have some discretion. After instituting limits on use during class this year, Pasco County Schools Superintendent is calling for a by the 2024-25 school year. The Hillsborough district board that allows students to keep their phones if they are “powered down, silenced, and stored out of sight unless authorized by staff.”

Last year, teachers tended to set their own rules, said Kendal Coulbertson, who graduated in May from Armwood High in Hillsborough. Some teachers, she said, didn’t mind if students used their phones as long as they were turning in their assignments and getting good grades.

But she thinks a ban goes too far.

“I was engaged in conversation. I was engaged in learning, and I think, honestly, that should be the goal rather than going to the extreme end,” she said. She added that are a “real issue” and students want to be able to reach their parents in case of an emergency. “There could be some type of middle ground.”

Like parents, educators are split on the issue. In some districts, including Akron and Florida’s , bans on phones extend through lunch, a time when teens typically check in with social media. 

“It has to be all or nothing,” said Shipe, the Akron union leader. Teachers, she added, shouldn’t have to haggle with students to lock their phones back up after lunch. 

Enforcement was a daily struggle for Dina Hoeynck, a former teacher in Cleveland who taught graphic design. At her school, students had access to their phones between class periods and teachers were in charge of ensuring they were locked up — a system she described as “impractical.”

“Going through the rigamarole of having students lock their phones at the start of class and unlock them at the end felt like a massive waste of time,” said Hoeynck, who kept needle nose pliers on hand to straighten pins on pouches when students bent them. “It led to a significant loss of instructional time and created unnecessary power struggles between teachers and students.” 

Mark Benigni, superintendent of Connecticut’s Meriden Public Schools, is among those who oppose a blanket policy,

“We must educate our students on the appropriate and effective use of cellphones as we do for all technology,” he said. “We also need to recognize that today’s cellphones offer numerous opportunities to enhance learning, organization and communication. Many students are emailing teachers using their cellphone and district-provided emails.”

Benigni happens to be Cardona’s former boss. Before President Joe Biden tapped him to be secretary, Cardona served as assistant superintendent in Meriden until becoming Connecticut’s education chief. While the district didn’t pass its until April 2021, Benigni said it closely follows practices in place when Cardona worked there: Students can’t use phones during instructional time unless a teacher permits it or if they’re necessary to access the district’s online learning platform. 

“The secretary always supported the safe use of technology when he was here,” Benigni said. “There are times when teachers need to have students put them away.”

The Department of Health and Human Services will also enlist community-based clinics, doctor’s offices, hospitals and faith-based organizations in rapidly distributing vaccines through the end of the year, making enough available to immunize 28 million children. 

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Considered a major milestone toward ending the pandemic, emergency use authorization of a vaccine for children could be announced any day. Pfizer-BioNTech sent data on the use of its vaccine among that age group to the Food and Drug Administration in late September. An FDA advisory committee is scheduled to meet Oct. 26, followed by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee the week after. The administration said it is “hosting operational readiness calls” with states, tribes and territories to ensure a smooth process once the FDA approves and the CDC recommends the vaccine. With thousands of schools still quarantining students because of outbreaks, families and schools have been anticipating this key step.

“Superintendents have been very anxious for this to happen,” said Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA, The School Superintendents Association. But he added that some schools might consider the attitudes of their community before agreeing to serve as vaccination sites. “If they have a supportive community, they will do vaccines in the schools as they’ve done in the past.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will take charge of setting up sites, storing supplies — including smaller needles — and providing transportation to sites, if needed, according to the fact sheet. The White House said pediatrician’s offices and pharmacies will also be critical in providing the vaccine because they are already “trusted sources.” Roughly 25,000 pediatrician’s offices, tens of thousands of pharmacies and over 100 children’s hospitals are expected to be involved, offering vaccines during the evenings and weekends for convenience.

The American Academy of Pediatrics applauded the announcement.

“Parents trust us to care for their children, come to us with questions and concerns about how to keep them healthy and safe, and will turn to us during this next phase for reassurance and guidance about the COVID-19 vaccine,” AAP President Lee Savio Beers, said in a statement. “We are ready to do what we’ve always done: counsel our families and protect our patients.”

But as Domenech said, the administration is expecting that not all parents will be eager to get their children vaccinated, considering less than of adolescents are vaccinated, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. HHS will launch a nationwide education campaign to assure parents that the vaccine is safe, working with schools and community organizations to “increase vaccine confidence.”

“A key focus of our efforts is raising vaccine awareness and getting parents the facts they need to make the right choice for their kids,” Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said during a briefing Wednesday.

Schools have been used as for over 100 years, and Linda Mendonca, president of the National Association of School Nurses, said school nurses “have a trusted relationship with students and families.” But schools are facing a along with many other staff positions, which could impact the vaccination effort as it has school-based testing.

An conducted at the end of September showed that two-thirds of parents with children in the 5-11 range said they’re “likely” to get their children vaccinated, but 43 percent responded that they would be “very likely.” 

Those who are unsure about vaccinating their children are more likely to be unvaccinated themselves and continue to note the speed of vaccine’s development and potential side effects as top reasons for their hesitancy. A quarter of parents of adolescents responding said a requirement that their child be vaccinated to attend school could make them change their minds.

is the only state so far to mandate the vaccine for students once it earns full FDA approval. But others are expected to follow. In Washington, the Seattle Public Schools is considering that would ask the state’s health department to issue a such mandate.