Health · Public Health & Disease · 5 hrs ago
Anti-vaccine activists question doctors treating children who died of measles
Two unvaccinated girls died of measles at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, during an outbreak last year that infected at least 762 people.
Afterward, anti-vaccine activists claimed the girls died because of their medical treatment, not measles.
Children’s Health Defense says its complaints led to malpractice investigations into the doctors who treated them.
The group’s chief scientific officer alleged that antibiotics were prescribed inappropriately, but the article does not establish that this caused the deaths.
US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has also publicly disputed the rising measles death toll.
The United States has recorded eight measles deaths in less than two years, and health officials say outbreaks are continuing.
Measles can cause severe illness, lead to hospital stays and leave survivors at risk of other infections.
Anti-vaccine activists have questioned the care provided to children who died of measles, claiming medical malpractice rather than the disease caused their deaths.
Children’s Health Defense says it helped prompt malpractice investigations into doctors who treated two unvaccinated girls who died during a measles outbreak in west Texas.
The outbreak infected at least 762 people, and the article says eight people in the United States have died of measles in less than two years.
Health officials and vaccine experts say the claims are an attempt to cast doubt on vaccines while measles outbreaks continue.
- Who
- Anti-vaccine activists, including Children’s Health Defense, have questioned the doctors’ care. Health officials and vaccine experts have challenged that effort.
- What
- Activists have claimed that medical malpractice, not measles, caused the deaths of two unvaccinated girls.
- When
- The girls died during last year’s west Texas outbreak. The article was published on 12 October 2026.
- Where
- West Texas, including Lubbock. The article also says the tactic is being used in Pennsylvania.
- Why
- Health officials and experts say the claims are intended to cast doubt on vaccines and deflect attention from rising measles cases and deaths.
Anti-vaccine activists
Health officials and vaccine experts
Cause of the girls’ deaths
Anti-vaccine activists
Activists say inappropriate antibiotics contributed to the deaths.
Health officials and vaccine experts
Officials and experts identify measles as the cause and describe the malpractice claims as a tactic to question vaccines.
Doctors’ care
Anti-vaccine activists
Children’s Health Defense says doctors’ treatment warrants malpractice investigations.
Health officials and vaccine experts
The article reports that the claims are disputed and that health officials say the focus should be on ongoing outbreaks.
Because in each case, inappropriate antibiotics were prescribed, and that, I believe, led to both girls’ deaths.
it’s not a good look
It’s their playbook
A measles outbreak in west Texas infected at least 762 people.
Two unvaccinated girls, aged six and eight, died at the same Lubbock hospital.
Anti-vaccine activists claimed the girls died because of medical malpractice rather than measles.
Children’s Health Defense said malpractice investigations into the doctors had been allowed to proceed for expert review.
- West Texas outbreak
- At least 762 people infected
- Children who died
- Two unvaccinated girls, aged six and eight
- US measles deaths
- Eight in less than two years
- Hospital
- Children’s hospital in Lubbock, Texas
- Group
- Children’s Health Defense
- Published
- 12 October 2026
Sources
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