Amid growing fears over a surge in measles cases in Texas, a video circulating online has sparked outrage after it showed a doctor with a measles rash treating children.
Public health experts have raised alarms about the potential spread, condemning the doctor who continued to practice while being infected with the highly contagious virus. The same doctor was praised a week later by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who called him an "extraordinary healer".
The doctor at the center of the controversy is Dr. Ben Edwards, who appears in a video posted by Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization on March 31. The footage shows Dr. Edwards working in a makeshift clinic in Seminole, Texas, ground zero of the outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people and killed three, including two children.
When Dr. Edwards was asked whether he had measles he responded "Yes" adding that his infection had started the day before the video was recorded and it was a "mild case". "Yesterday was pretty achy. Little mild fever. Spots came in the afternoon. Today, I woke up feeling good," he said in the video.
Measles spreads through the air when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. Individuals can spread the disease from about four days before the rash appears and four days after.
However, Dr. Edwards clarified that he has not put any patient's life in danger as he has not interacted with anyone who was not already infected with measles. "Therefore, obviously, there were no patients that were put in danger of acquiring measles since they already had measles," he told the Associated Press in an email, as reported by CNN.
About a week after the video was posted, Kennedy Jr. who had led the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense until December met with Dr. Edwards, along with another physician. Kennedy took to X on April 6 to praise the duo as "extraordinary healers," commending their use of two unproven measles treatments. However, it remains unclear whether Kennedy was aware that Dr. Edwards had treated children in his clinic while infected with measles before their meeting.
While many health experts are condemning Dr. Edwards for continuing to treat children without wearing an N95 mask, potentially exposing uninfected patients, parents, and others visiting the clinic, some are also raising concerns about the broader implications of the video. Critics say the footage promotes anti-vaccine sentiment, especially as Dr. Edwards is seen confirming that he had been vaccinated against measles.
When asked if he had measles as a child, he said, "No, I had the MMR vaccine." Pressed on how many doses he'd received, he confirmed, "Quite a few," and claimed the protection "just wears off" over time. Health experts warn this messaging is misleading and could discourage vaccination.
Experts like Dr. Zachary Rubin, a pediatric allergist and clinical immunologist, explain that the two-dose MMR vaccine regimen, offering about 97% protection against measles, was not added to routine guidelines until 1989. Before that, most people received only a single dose, which provides about 93% protection and that gap could explain some breakthrough cases. "I don't actually know his medical history, but we know that the MMR vaccine didn't get a routine second-dose recommendation until 1989," Dr. Rubin said in a video.
Originally published on Medical Daily
