Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces criticism after suggesting two measles-related deaths in Pennsylvania may have been fabricated, prompting a dispute over official data and highlighting ongoing vaccine scepticism amid rising measles cases.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing mounting criticism after suggesting that two Pennsylvania measles deaths may have been “fabricated”, even as local and federal health officials continued to treat at least one of them as measles-related. According to reporting by Reuters and other US outlets, the controversy centres on whether the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention should count the deaths in its public data after Pennsylvania officials said they were linked to the virus.
The dispute escalated after Kennedy, the health secretary and a long-time vaccine sceptic, allegedly pressed the CDC’s new director, Erica Schwartz, to remove the deaths from the agency’s website. Reuters said CDC staff had already reviewed the cases and accepted them as measles deaths before the public tally was altered. The deaths briefly appeared and then disappeared from the public-facing data, while remaining in an internal CDC database, according to reports cited by Ars Technica.
Pennsylvania officials have said the deaths were reported properly, and the state’s outbreak has become the largest measles event in more than three decades. Ars Technica reported that one of the victims was a six-week-old baby girl in Lancaster County, whose coroner later confirmed died from measles. The baby also had a rare genetic condition, but the coroner still said measles was the cause of death.
Health experts and state leaders have accused Kennedy of fuelling misinformation at a moment when measles cases are rising sharply. The Daily Beast reported that Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro clashed with Kennedy over the remarks, while Georges Benjamin of the American Public Health Association condemned the move as political interference. The CDC later changed the wording attached to an asterisk on its public page, replacing language that suggested uncertainty with a note saying it does not currently have 2026 death records indicating measles as the underlying cause.
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