3 ms·

It means making an informed choice that you know raises fatality rates.

baggy_trough 5mo ago
Who did that in this case? The parents? Isn't it more likely that they don't believe it raises fatality rates (however incorrectly)?
- ceejayoz 5mo ago
  > Who did that in this case? Anti-vax activists like RFK Jr. https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/healthpolicy/120893 https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/healthpolicy...
  - baggy_trough 5mo ago
    by not saying anything about it, he committed statistical murder?
    - ceejayoz 5mo ago
      Don't be disingenuous. He's actively suppressing publication of studies showing vaccine safety as a government official. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/us/politics/fda-covid-vaccine-studies.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/us/politics/fda-covid-vac...
      - baggy_trough 5mo ago
        He said nothing about the medication in question, so does your original comment mean that RFK is guilty of statistical murder and should be punished for his general vaccine skepticism? I'm not sure how else to read "another case of statistical murder that can't be punished as it should, unfortunately". That would be an extraordinary claim.
        ceejayoz 5mo ago
        If you witness child abuse and say nothing, you bear some responsibility for its continuation. If you’re the top health official of the country and spread doubt about numerous public health interventions, including actively suppressing research showing their safety and efficacy, yes, you’re guilty as fuck. Hope this helps clarify things.
        baggy_trough 5mo ago
        Of course he’s probably wrong about much of that. Punishing him for it in a court, if that’s what you mean, would be illiberal and grotesque.
        ceejayoz 5mo ago
        Why? It’s negligent homicide. It’s just so diffuse that it doesn’t fit in our crime model. Like polluters who shave years off an entire neighborhood’s lives via health impacts.
        baggy_trough 5mo ago
        Because an opinion can’t rise to homicide, even if it influences policy. That’s not what homicide is. Instead, it’s simply bad policy, to be punished at the ballot box.
        ceejayoz 5mo ago
        Bad policy that needlessly kills thousands of people should be punishable outside the ballot box. If your policy of letting kindergarteners play with grenades goes bad, you go to jail.
        UncleMeat 5mo ago
        This is a broken system. When somebody allegedly steals a backpack they get thrown in Riker's. When somebody with substantial power causes a whole bunch of people to die in aggregate via pollution, misinformation, or whatever our society has no mechanism to punish them.
    - atmavatar 5mo ago
      Yes. He's rather infamous for his part in the 2019 Samoa measles outbreak. See: https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-kennedy-vaccines-pacific-42a9cb583c71f165699b16710884c474 https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-kennedy-vacc... See: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-vaccine-crisis-rcna187787 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-va... See: https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-denies-samoa-visit-was-vaccine-related-here-are-facts-2023112 https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-denies-samoa-visit-was-vacci... The changes he's made upon taking over HHS are almost certain to have far-reaching affects which eclipse that.

Who did that in this case? The parents? Isn't it more likely that they don't believe it raises fatality rates (however incorrectly)?

ceejayoz 5mo ago
> Who did that in this case? Anti-vax activists like RFK Jr. https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/healthpolicy/120893 https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/healthpolicy...
- baggy_trough 5mo ago
  by not saying anything about it, he committed statistical murder?
  - ceejayoz 5mo ago
    Don't be disingenuous. He's actively suppressing publication of studies showing vaccine safety as a government official. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/us/politics/fda-covid-vaccine-studies.html https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/us/politics/fda-covid-vac...
    - baggy_trough 5mo ago
      He said nothing about the medication in question, so does your original comment mean that RFK is guilty of statistical murder and should be punished for his general vaccine skepticism? I'm not sure how else to read "another case of statistical murder that can't be punished as it should, unfortunately". That would be an extraordinary claim.
      - ceejayoz 5mo ago
        If you witness child abuse and say nothing, you bear some responsibility for its continuation. If you’re the top health official of the country and spread doubt about numerous public health interventions, including actively suppressing research showing their safety and efficacy, yes, you’re guilty as fuck. Hope this helps clarify things.
        baggy_trough 5mo ago
        Of course he’s probably wrong about much of that. Punishing him for it in a court, if that’s what you mean, would be illiberal and grotesque.
        ceejayoz 5mo ago
        Why? It’s negligent homicide. It’s just so diffuse that it doesn’t fit in our crime model. Like polluters who shave years off an entire neighborhood’s lives via health impacts.
        baggy_trough 5mo ago
        Because an opinion can’t rise to homicide, even if it influences policy. That’s not what homicide is. Instead, it’s simply bad policy, to be punished at the ballot box.
        ceejayoz 5mo ago
        Bad policy that needlessly kills thousands of people should be punishable outside the ballot box. If your policy of letting kindergarteners play with grenades goes bad, you go to jail.
        UncleMeat 5mo ago
        This is a broken system. When somebody allegedly steals a backpack they get thrown in Riker's. When somebody with substantial power causes a whole bunch of people to die in aggregate via pollution, misinformation, or whatever our society has no mechanism to punish them.
  - atmavatar 5mo ago
    Yes. He's rather infamous for his part in the 2019 Samoa measles outbreak. See: https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-kennedy-vaccines-pacific-42a9cb583c71f165699b16710884c474 https://apnews.com/article/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-kennedy-vacc... See: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-vaccine-crisis-rcna187787 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-va... See: https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-denies-samoa-visit-was-vaccine-related-here-are-facts-2023112 https://www.newsweek.com/rfk-jr-denies-samoa-visit-was-vacci... The changes he's made upon taking over HHS are almost certain to have far-reaching affects which eclipse that.