Murray Challenges CDC Over 2 Pennsylvania Measles Deaths as Agency Revises Fatality Definition
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 7
Murray Challenges CDC Over 2 Pennsylvania Measles Deaths as Agency Revises Fatality Definition
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 7
Summary
Sen. Patty Murray said she pressed CDC Director Erica Schwartz last week over the agency’s refusal to report several Pennsylvania measles deaths, including two announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro in August.
Schwartz told Murray the CDC was working with state epidemiologists on a more precise definition of a measles death, a step Murray said could obscure how many people are dying.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the CDC, had suggested Shapiro’s staff may have “fabricated” the deaths and argued the patients died with measles rather than from it.
The dispute has pulled the CDC into a partisan fight over outbreak data and added to concerns among Democrats and public health leaders about the agency’s credibility under Trump and Kennedy.