"Measles-Associated Deaths" Is The New "Died With COVID"

Gov. Shapiro of Pennsylvania reported two "measles-associated deaths" in Lancaster County, but the coroner says that's untrue. Local officials allege the measles deaths are "fabricated" for political reasons after Pres. Trump's executive order splitting up the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) childhood vaccine schedule.

"Every time there's a measles death, they want to lay it at Bobby Kennedy's feet," says Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring, a board-certified psychiatrist and former FDA medical officer. He explains that trust in American healthcare is already at such an all-time low after the pandemic, untruthful health officials using a "measles-associated death" for political points – when the newborn's death was actually due to a ruptured spleen – only drives patients further away from the healthcare they need.

"The state indicated that one case that we investigated was counted as one of the measles-related deaths, but that individual died as a result of a laceration to the spleen," Lancaster County Coroner Stephen Diamontoni says. "It's possible that an infection with measles can cause enlargement and inflammation of the spleen, making it more susceptible to rupture. But in the opinion of our forensic pathologist, the spleen was neither enlarged or inflamed. And our forensic pathologist thought that, as that was the case, the laceration to the spleen was not related to the measles."

Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring is a board-certified psychiatrist, former FDA Medical Officer, and Medical Director of @TaperClinic. He previously worked at Janssen Pharmaceuticals and the FDA's Division of Psychiatry.

From the 8/27/2026 episode of Ask Dr. Drew

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