The Senate Criticized the Trump Administration Over a Large-Scale Measles Outbreak — Reuters

Bill Cassidy, chairman of the U.S. Senate Health Committee, a Republican from Louisiana and a physician by training, strongly opposed the Donald Trump administration’s vaccination policy amid a massive measles outbreak in the country.

Cases and health response

The statement was made on September 16 during hearings on three of Trump’s nominees for top health care positions.

The committee was considering the nominations of Chris Klomp for deputy secretary of health, Nicole Saphir for U.S. Surgeon General, and Timothy Westlake for director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The fact that the hearings took place and the list of nominees have been confirmed by the Senate’s official website.

Cassidy stated that four people may have already died in Pennsylvania due to misinformation and, in his words, flawed vaccination policies.

“We have reports of four deaths in Pennsylvania,” the senator said.

He added that the country needs healthcare leaders who will make decisions “based on science, not politics or ideology.”

Cassidy was most critical of Nicole Saphir, emphasizing that the chief medical officer is effectively the “nation’s doctor,” to whom Americans turn for medical guidance.