Science deniers put their own babies at risk

[MU82]

It's not just vaccines — parents are refusing other routine preventive care for newborns

https://apnews.com/article/babies-newborns-pediatricians-vitamin-k-hepatitis-b-erythromycin-9126463f0cb38b9778fb77bc0d071776?

One day at an Idaho hospital, half the newborns Dr. Tom Patterson saw didn't get the vitamin K shots that have been given to babies for decades to prevent potentially deadly bleeding. On another recent day, more than a quarter didn't get the shot. Their parents wouldn't allow it.

"When you look at a child who's innocent and vulnerable — and a simple intervention that's been done since 1961 is refused — knowing that baby's going out into the world is super worrisome to me," said Patterson, who's been a pediatrician for nearly three decades.

Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care for babies.

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. Rates for that vaccination at birth dropped in recent years, and doctors confirm that more parents are refusing the eye medication.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

They put themselves at risk as well.

The good news is that the dentists will read this and decide it isn't true because reasons.

Conservatives are dying at higher rates than liberals. A new study points to mistrust in medicine
https://www.fastcompany.com/91561329/widening-health-gap-between-liberals-and-conservatives

"2010 is the last year in which we can say fairly clearly that there is not this gap," Elizabeth Elder, a coauthor of the study, tells Fast Company. "By 2020 we have pretty clear evidence of a gap in which conservatives are less healthy than liberals.

The authors argue in the study that the divide cannot be explained away by COVID-19 deaths, demographic differences, geography, or the simple fact that some groups are older than others. Instead, they point to a widening ideological divide in trust toward doctors and the broader medical system.

That crisis of trust accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with fights over masks and vaccines spilling out from social media into everyday life. Now it extends to other health matters, such as taking blood pressure medication or seeing a doctor for chest pains.

Since the gap emerged in 2020, health in the U.S. has become increasingly politicized. Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assumed the role of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump, federal health policy has been reshaped by the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

RFK Jr.'s antivaccination agenda has gained ground as more red states work to eliminate vaccine mandates, while MAHA and MAHA-adjacent wellness influencers have cast doubt on everything from sunscreen to chemotherapy."

[tower912]

I applaud their commitment and encourage them to hold fast to their beliefs and not believe science or statistics


You do you.

[Uncle Rico]

They put themselves at risk as well.

The good news is that the dentists will read this and decide it isn't true because reasons.

Conservatives are dying at higher rates than liberals. A new study points to mistrust in medicine
https://www.fastcompany.com/91561329/widening-health-gap-between-liberals-and-conservatives

"2010 is the last year in which we can say fairly clearly that there is not this gap," Elizabeth Elder, a coauthor of the study, tells Fast Company. "By 2020 we have pretty clear evidence of a gap in which conservatives are less healthy than liberals.

The authors argue in the study that the divide cannot be explained away by COVID-19 deaths, demographic differences, geography, or the simple fact that some groups are older than others. Instead, they point to a widening ideological divide in trust toward doctors and the broader medical system.

That crisis of trust accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with fights over masks and vaccines spilling out from social media into everyday life. Now it extends to other health matters, such as taking blood pressure medication or seeing a doctor for chest pains.

Since the gap emerged in 2020, health in the U.S. has become increasingly politicized. Since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. assumed the role of Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services under President Donald Trump, federal health policy has been reshaped by the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

RFK Jr.'s antivaccination agenda has gained ground as more red states work to eliminate vaccine mandates, while MAHA and MAHA-adjacent wellness influencers have cast doubt on everything from sunscreen to chemotherapy."

A confederacy of dunces