Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday went as far as to suggest that the two measles deaths reported in Pennsylvania earlier this week may “have been altogether fabricated” by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro’s team.
Kennedy, one of the most prominent vaccine skeptics in the country, has been sparring with Shapiro following the announcement of the two measles-associated deaths.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (above), one of the most prominent vaccine skeptics in the country, has been sparring with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) following the announcement of two measles-associated deaths in his state.
AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, from his official government account, Kennedy criticized Shapiro over a Tuesday press conference in which the governor discussed the ongoing measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, including the fatalities in Lancaster County.
“The announcement appears to have been premature, and the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor’s hopeful staffers,” the secretary claimed. “The Lancaster County Coroner says that it has no record of any measles deaths. State law requires that all measles deaths be reported to the coroner.”
Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania’s secretary of health, contested the validity of the claims made by Kennedy without naming the Trump official.
“As a pediatrician with more than 30 years of caring for children, I have thoroughly reviewed the case investigation information and sadly can confirm that there were two recent measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County, which were reported to the CDC’s measles response team early Tuesday morning,” she said in a statement.
“DOH’s Epidemiology team thoroughly investigated and verified both individuals tested positive for measles. The information was not reported to the public until the results of the epidemiological investigations were confirmed. Under state law, PA DOH is not required to report deaths to coroners,” Bogen added.
The state Department of Health first notified the public of the two fatalities on Tuesday, noting that both individuals were unvaccinated. It did not share any further information on the individuals, citing privacy concerns.
“These mark the first deaths related to measles within the Commonwealth in 35 years,” the department said at the time.
Ahead of Kennedy’s latest post questioning the deaths, Shapiro had blasted the secretary, citing their recent phone call.
While Kennedy reached out to offer support to the state to fight the current measles outbreak, he then launched into a “tirade” after Shapiro urged him to help by encouraging people to get vaccinated and stop sharing misinformation, the governor explained on social media.
“Unfortunately at a time where I needed the top ‘health expert’ in the nation to responsibly work with us to deal with this outbreak, he instead chose to go down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and false claims,” Shapiro said.
Kennedy contested Shapiro’s characterization of the call.
As of Aug. 20, 2,777 measles cases have been reported across the country this year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The figure is already higher than the total number of cases of the disease reported in the U.S. for the entirety of 2025, the CDC added.