As many doctors are moving ahead with the latest advances of modern medicine—from powerful obesity drugs to breakthrough cancer treatments—pediatricians are being forced to turn back, fighting to maintain advances in children’s health that were hard-won decades ago. With anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has spent a considerable amount of time and resources in the past year fiercely defending lifesaving vaccinations.
Just this week, The New York Times reported that Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, has opened aggressive investigations against pediatricians because they vaccinated their patients. Paxton falsely claims vaccines are part of a “multi-level, multi-industry scheme.” Meanwhile, the AAP had to renew another decades-old stance against unpasteurized dairy, aka raw milk.
Since the early 20th century, dairy producers in the US have briefly heated milk to kill dangerous pathogens. Pasteurization contributed to a sharp drop in infant deaths. But, much like vaccines, misinformation has eroded trust. State laws have been loosening on raw milk, despite a federal ban on interstate commerce. At least 27 states now allow raw milk sales, and outbreaks from raw milk have increased over the past two decades.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing