I went to med school at @EmoryMedicine. Up the street from the CDC. I was in awe of the CDC and those who worked there to promote science and to protect health. Today, the CDC has fallen. In the name of conspiracy theory and disinformation. And I am crushed.

Pediatrician here. Misinformation and disinformation don't become facts just because the CDC posted them. Numerous studies have refuted any link between vaccines and autism. Zero studies have shown any link between vaccines and autism. Real science matters.

"Together", the sculpture welcoming AAP members and visitors to the American Academy of Pediatrics mothership. I know I am home when I see these figures. I am safe. I am with people who have the best interests of children at heart. I can count on these people. Thank you, @ameracadpeds.bsky.social.

VAERS database reports will likely be used by RFK Jr to try to show a link between COVID vaccines and child deaths. But VAERS reports are neither data nor research. They are reports that anyone can submit on anything at any time in any place. They do not and cannot show causation.

A conservative activist was shot in Utah today. Children were shot at school in Colorado today. Both events were horrific and should never have happened. But we can't react to one as a great national tragedy and remain virtually silent about the other. That is what I see happening right now.

Please read this essay to the end. These are the previous directors of the CDC who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents. If you don't believe me, please believe them. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/01/o...

Pretty cool that RFK Jr, with no medical education or experience, can diagnose "mitochondrial challenges" or "inflammation" just by looking at children. I can't do that after med school and many years in pediatric practice. Then again, maybe he's just lying....again.

Today's PSA from your friendly neighborhood, science based, evidence driven pediatrician: If someone says they are going to find and announce the "certain" cause of a medical or developmental condition by a specific date, that's not science. That's propaganda, regardless of what their "finding" is.

And RFK Jr is now threatening pediatricians with liability if they follow evidence based vaccine recommendations. He is threatening the people who spend their lives protecting the health and safety of children. We are living in a dystopian alternate reality. www.medpagetoday.com/pediatrics/v...

My opinion piece in The State on the defunding of mRNA vaccine research. Actions have consequences and the consequences of this one will extend far beyond access to current mRNA vaccines.

As the US hits a catastrophic milestone with the highest number of measles cases since the disease was declared eradicated, it is a step in the right direction to see the AAP and others stand up to say that this is not OK and we won't pretend that it is. publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...

Today's Call to Action: I can't make it any simpler than this. CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! Call this morning and ask them to vote no on the Big, Horrifically Bad Bill which will strip health care and healthy food from millions of children and families. Ask them to protect children.

My Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott just voted to take health care access away from many of my patients and their families. They voted to strip health care from thousands of their own constituents. I'm having a really hard time coming to grips with that.

RUIZ: Did you read the report & fact-check its sources prior to publication? RFK JR: I did not fact check RUIZ: It included citations to sources that don't exist. How does that happen? RFK JR: All of the foundational assertions are accurate RUIZ: They did not exist. How can they be accurate?

The Zombie "ACIP" meeting this week will include a presentation on Thimerosol which cites a study on the dangers of vaccines containing Thimerosol. Except oops, the study didn't exist. Welcome to "ACIP" 2025.

We had hoped that the Senate version of the "Big Beautiful Bill" would reign in the devastating cuts to Medicaid that put children and children's hospitals at great risk. Instead, the Senate bill makes these cuts more catastrophic. This is an all hands on deck moment. Reach out to your Senators now!

As a South Carolina pediatrician who has fought against some of the awful legislation this guy has supported I just want to remind you: Not trans. Not a drag queen.

This one is a gut punch. Four ACIP members receive termination notices. Maybe there is nothing nefarious here. Maybe this is just a clerical issue. Maybe science can somehow still prevail. But if not, this is our all hands on deck moment. Our nation's health stands in the crossfire.

Today I #WearOrange for National Gun Violence Awareness Day. And today I will talk to families about firearm safety and I will give out free gun locks- just like I do every other day. So please store all firearms locked and unloaded with the ammunition locked elsewhere.Thank you!

As we all share in the political comedy playing out today, I'd like to take a serious moment to remind everyone in South Carolina that @drannieandrews.com is running for US Senate. And she actually truly wants to help people in South Carolina.

When in doubt, lie. And if you don't have the data to support your lies, simply make up the studies and the data as well. It's the MAHA way. #MedSky #PedSky

First you ban the funding for the scientific research. Then you ban the products resulting from the scientific research. Finally, you ban the scientists. I used to wonder how we would all survive 4 years of this. Now I understand that many of us won't. wapo.st/43sc0Bz

The "Big, Beautiful Bill" is anything but. This bill includes devastating cuts to Medicaid and SNAP causing children to lose access to both health care and healthy food. Please reach out to your Senators and ask them to demand changes to this legislation. #PedSky #MedSky

I am a pediatrician. Completed a residency. Board certified. I have practiced for over 30 years. Treated thousands of kids. Many years of local, state and federal advocacy work. I do not feel qualified to be Surgeon General. But somehow Casey Means is?

Dr. Offit says it better than I ever could. Read the letter. Contact your representatives and senators. Speak up for children. We may not get another chance. carhttps://open.substack.com/pub/pauloffit/p/an-open-letter-to-senator-william?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

In my now daily quest to combat vaccine misinformation and disinformation, I give you this great article from @HealthyChildren. Data matters. Science matters. Disinformation harms children. #PedSky #MedSky

We have a safe and effective vaccine that gives 97-98% protection with 2 doses. But sure, let's spend millions studying treatments for a potentially fatal disease rather than promoting the established, effective prevention for that disease. #PedSky #MedSky

20 minute conversation today trying to combat newly minted vaccine hesitancy. 20 minutes spent discussing the difference between research/data/science and rhetoric/propaganda/disinformation. This is pediatrics. This is not sustainable. And that scares me.

And in a bit of good news for those who favor science over misinformation and disinformation... #PedSky #MedSky

This is the definition of a complete and catastrophic public health failure. This is public health in the United Stares, circa 2025.

Irony: Scrolling through X, seeing post after post of anti-vaccine rhetoric. On the same day that my pediatric practice forms its first-ever Measles Task Force. Our children and grandchildren will never understand how we allowed this to happen. 2025. Making Measles Great Again

And here you have it. Using RFK Jr logic, we now have the cause of autism. As organic food purchases have skyrocketed, so have autism diagnoses. Thus, buying organic food causes autism. And we didn't even have to wait for September. #PedSky #MedSky

The draft budget plan drastically slashes health care, early childhood education and mental health services for poor children. By the way, it also slashes teen pregnancy prevention programs. Am I the only one who sees the obvious problem with that? #PedSky #MedSky

Well, this tracks right on point. Because measles wasn't contagious enough, now we have doctors actually helping to spread it... #PedSky #MedSky #Measles

In 2019-2020 kindergarten vaccine rates were 95% nationwide. In 2023-2024 vaccine rates had decreased to below 93% nationwide. Using RFKjr logic, with his assumption that vaccines cause autism, our autism rates should have decreased nationwide. They haven't. Why could that be? #PedSky #MedSky

Today I treated kids who needed Medicaid for: Asthma meds. Eczema meds. ADHD meds. Physical Therapy. Immunizations. Eyeglasses. Speech Therapy. Seizure meds. And so much more. Medicaid is a lifeline for children. Let's not cut that lifeline.

RFK Jr plans to push the CDC to stop recommending that communities add Fluoride to drinking water, despite solid evidence that it prevents dental disease, the #1 chronic disease of children in the US. But he fired the whole CDC oral health team last week. So who exactly is he planning to push?

Sick visit for a 2 year old with a cough. Dad: Shows me a photo of a bottle of cough medicine they have been giving. Points to the word "homeopathic" and asks what it means. Me: It means "Waste of Money." #PedSky #MedSky

NO. JUST NO. We should not be promoting or glorifying the treatment of a preventable disease. We should be preventing that disease. There should be no measles deaths in the US in 2025. Measles vaccine prevents measles. That should be the unambiguous, science-driven message.

So here's a thought: How about doing an actual analysis to see where the "waste" really is before randomly gutting programs like lead surveillance that actually save children's lives? Could we maybe do that? Asking for millions of children. #MedSky #PedSky

13 year well visit. (with permission) Discussing vaccines- 13- Why don't people just listen to the smart people who have studied vaccines and science for their whole careers? The kids will save us. If we can make it long enough for that to happen.

Words that strike fear into the heart of every pediatrician during a well baby visit: "Well, the chiropractor said..." #PedSky #MedSky

Another winning comment from today's office visits. (With permission, of course) Parent: Trying to navigate health care for children within this Administration is like playing chess with a pigeon who knocks over all the chess pieces and then poops all over the board.

Today's edition of "Are you (or your HHS Secretary) smarter than a 5th grader?" 9 year well check. Me: Let's talk about HPV vaccine. It can help to prevent several types of cancers with just two shots. 9: You mean if I get this shot, I'm less likely to get these cancers? Me: Yep. 9: Shoot me up!

40 minutes today dealing with vaccine hesitancy. The common thread among the parents-listening to RFK Jr. sow the seeds of conspiracy. I explained the science. I answered the questions. The babies did receive their vaccines, but that is 40 minutes that I could have spent seeing sick children today.

No. Measles does not care what you ate for lunch. #PedSky #MedSky

Open letter from a pediatrician to Senator BillCassidy: You promised to supervise HHS leadership. You promised to prevent the US from devolving into an anti-vaccine, disease ridden dystopia. You promised to protect children. I am begging you to please do your job.

Back at the @AmerAcadPeds Mother Ship for the PROS (Pediatric Research in Office Settings) chapter coordinators meeting. Research for children's health is still happening. It's up to all of us to make sure it continues. Because science matters. And children matter. #MedSky #PedSky

Here's what will likely happen: Unvaccinated children have less interaction with physicians, less screening for autism, less likely to receive an autism diagnosis. It will be incredibly easy to "create" a link between autism and vaccines in this scenario. That doesn't mean there is one.

Recipe for a measles outbreak: 1 Send one child with measles to school. 2 Avoid public health advice to keep unvaccinated and exposed children home from school to limit the spread of the disease. 3 Mix well. 4 No other action needed. The measles virus will take care of the rest. #PedSky #MedSky