In 2018, the tiny island nation of Samoa briefly paused MMR vaccines after two infants died after receiving the injections. However, it was soon discovered that the deaths were the result of two nurses accidentally mixing the vaccine with an expired muscle relaxant instead of water. The nurses were charged with manslaughter, the vaccines resumed, and the government got down to the business of encouraging people to get vaccines again. However, the next year there was a major measles outbreak, resulting in 5,697 illnesses and 83 deaths, mostly of children under the age of five.
Something happened in between that time, and that thing was Robert F. Kennedy Jr. visiting the island. Now, during his confirmation hearing, Kennedy got pretty aggro when questioned about this, insisting angrily that his visit to the island had nothing at all to do with vaccines. Even when Sen. Ed Markey told him that he knew he’d met with an anti-vaccine influencer; that the Samoan director general of health had said he believed that Kennedy had fueled the outbreak, emboldened other anti-vaccine activists and scared parents out of getting their kids vaccinated; that the prime minister had confirmed that Kennedy had spoken with him about vaccines and told him that he believed that the deaths were caused by the vaccines themselves and not by the muscle relaxants; he still denied it. You know, because vaccines are so obviously more dangerous for babies than (checks notes) muscle relaxants.
However, this week, letters obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request from The Guardian and the Associated Press reveal that he damn well was going down there for vaccine-related reasons.
On Children’s Health Defense letterhead, he wrote:
I am writing this letter to you in the hope that we might be helpful to the people of your great nation.For most of the world, investigation of adverse health events associated with vaccines — or any pharmaceutical for that matter — is both difficult and time consuming.
Health information systems are rarely designed to support rapid study of associations between diagnoses and specific vaccination events. It is, however, known that vaccines vary both lot-to-lot from specific manufacturers, and between manufacturers for a single vaccine type. This makes the likelihood of adverse lot and manufacturer specific effects higher for smaller nations where all vaccines can be from few or a single lot and manufacturer.
I believe the deaths associated recently with MMR vaccine in the Independent State of Samoa may have been manifestations these effects.
To be clear, again, they definitely were not. They were definitely caused by the muscle relaxants.
To evaluate whether or not this has been experienced in Samoa, I would propose my team conduct detailed health informatics assessment in Samoa of what happened with your MMR vaccines. My team includes a physician who has performed informatics work for ministries of health in 48 countries over the past 10 years. He believes this work can be completed quickly.
Going forward, Samoa would be well served to expand capacity for quickly performing this class of analysis for all pharmaceuticals prescribed and dispensed. This is invaluable not only for investigation of severe adverse events, but also for the systematic improvement in management of chronic illnesses like essential hypertension and diabetes. It will also be fully consistent with the Samoa Health System Strengthening Program.
Again, they already know what happened. It is not a mystery. People went to prison for what happened.
But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is not interested in the 83 people who died in Samoa, just like he’s not interested in the two people who died in Pennsylvania. He doesn’t care how many people die from measles, period. He also, clearly, doesn’t care about lying to people or lying to Congress or lying, period. Unfortunately for him, other people do care that he lies and so does the law.
“RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress,” Sen. Wyden wrote in a statement to The Guardian, adding, “When Democrats retake the majority in the Senate, RFK will be at the top of the list of Trump officials the finance committee will hold accountable for endangering American families.”
Good.
While Kennedy was not under oath during his confirmation hearing, lying to Congress even while not under oath — though rarely prosecuted — is still a federal crime and can be punished by up to five years in prison.
