Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is facing renewed scrutiny after praising the work of a doctor who has been known for discussing the dangers of vaccines – while the secretary was attending the funeral of the second child who died from the rampant West Texas measles outbreak.
Kennedy, who visited the outbreak area Sunday, attended the funeral of the unvaccinated unnamed 8-year-old girl: the second death of a young unvaccinated child in the state. He wrote on social media that he was in the state to learn how federal employees can better partner with Texas health officials to control the spread of the highly contagious respiratory virus, noting that “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.”
Just hours later, Kennedy commended the practice of “extraordinary healers” Dr. Ben Edwards and Richard Bartlett, “who have treated and healed some 300 measles-stricken Mennonite children using aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin.” Edwards and Bartlett have reportedly both promoted medicine other than vaccines to treat disease.
Kennedy’s post drew criticism from social media users – as both men have been linked to controversial stances.
“B*****T BOBBY IS STILL QUOTING QUACKS,” wrote Dr. Jan Kirsch, a medical oncologist and hematologist in California.
“The Health Secretary is promoting quack doctors in the midst of a measles outbreak and literally nothing was more predictable,” said Dr. Benjamin Mazer, a pathologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
“More evidence if any is needed, that Kennedy is unfit for his post. Drs. Bartlett & Edwards should have all accreditation removed if they are treating an acute viral infection with antibiotics,” said Tony Owen, who was identified on social media as a former member of the U.K.-based National Health Services.
Since taking charge of the nation’s top health agencies and the federal response to the outbreak, Kennedy — who has long been criticized for his promotion of anti-vaccine views — has tepidly endorsed the vaccines, which are 97 percent effective against the measles virus. The majority of physicians stress that they’re the way to stop the spread, instead of promoting other treatments.
Dr. Ben Edwards has criticized measles vaccination and described mass infection as “God’s version of measles immunization,” according to The Washington Post. Edwards runs a wellness clinic in Lubbock that supplies patients with vitamin C and cod liver oil, according to The New York Times.
“A divine appointment in 2011 opened his eyes to the fact that U.S. medical schools only teach a very narrow way of disease and symptom management with pharmaceuticals instead of disease and symptom resolution by addressing root causes,” the Veritas Wellness site says.
The parents of the first child who died in the outbreak said their other children had milder cases of illness because of the treatments from the clinic, which reportedly had help from an online fundraiser organized by Children’s Health Defense: the group led by Kennedy before he launched his 2024 presidential run.
If children who come to him have significant trouble breathing, NBC News reported last month that Edwards recommends budesonide, an inhaled steroid typically used for asthma. Budesonide is used to treat Crohn’s disease, but it’s not clear how it could help someone with measles. People taking it are warned to avoid exposure to measles, as it can increase the risk of infection.
Dr. Richard Bartlett, the other doctor in Kennedy’s tweet, once touted the steroid treatment as a cure for Covid, calling it a “silver bullet.” In August of 2020, Bartlett told a Christian radio station that he saw a 100 percent cure rate in his clinic, including among “the sickest of the sick.” Bartlett is a devout Christian and authored a book in 2018 on “doctor confirmed miracles.” While an Oxford University study initially gave credence to Bartlett’s claims, additional analysis and studies cast doubt on the effectiveness of the treatment, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
Notably, Bartlett was disciplined by Texas medical regulators in 2003 for “unusual use of risk-filled medications.”
Both doctors — who Kennedy previously praised in an interview with Fox Nation — also reportedly distributed clarithromycin to treat measles patients. Used to treat pneumonia, the antibiotic may help to prevent secondary bacterial infections, but the evidence is limited. Doctors say it wouldn’t be a “first line choice” for measles.
Kennedy has said that his department will be running clinical trials on budesonide, clarithromycin and cod liver oil therapies. He has also promoted the use of vitamin A “as a prophylaxis.” He has also ordered a re-examination of a debunked link between the vaccines and autism.
Nearly 500 cases of measles have been reported in Texas since January. On Monday, the state’s health authorities expanded the counties included in the designated outbreak area.
“It’s really important not to conflate what … [is] supportive or adjunctive care for measles versus curative treatment for measles,” Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatrics in Annapolis, Maryland, told CNN. “There is no treatment for measles.”