Video shows doctor with measles treating children in US outbreak
A doctor treating children in a measles outbreak has appeared in a video with a measles rash on his face days before the Trump administration praised him as an “extraordinary healer”.
The anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense posted the video of Dr Ben Edwards on 31 March showing him wearing scrubs and talking with parents and children in a makeshift clinic he set up in Seminole, Texas — ground zero of the current measles outbreak.
Dr Edwards is asked whether he has measles, to which he replies, “Yes,” adding that his infection started the day before the video was recorded.
“Yesterday was pretty achy. Little mild fever. Spots came in the afternoon. Today, I woke up feeling good,” Dr Edwards continues.
Doctors and public health experts said there was no scenario in which Dr Edwards’ conduct would be reasonable and that his decision to go into the clinic put children, their parents and their community at risk.
About a week after the video was posted, US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr visited Dr Edwards and another doctor, describing them as “two extraordinary healers”, praising their use of two unproven treatments for measles: aerosolised budesonide and clarithromycin (see X post below).
It was unclear whether Mr Kennedy, who until 2023 was chair of Children’s Health Defense, was aware that Dr Edwards had attended the clinic while infected with measles.
Dr Edwards, who apparently does not offer measles vaccines at his makeshift clinic, told the Associated Press in an email that he had “interacted with zero patients that were not already infected with measles” during the time he was infectious.
“Therefore, obviously, there were no patients that were put in danger of acquiring measles since they already had measles.”
But Dr Jessica Steier (PhD), a public health scientist, said the video showed Dr Edwards in a room with people who did not appear sick, including parents of sick children and the people visiting the clinic from Children’s Health Defense.
She also questioned whether Dr Edwards was taking steps to confirm that people were sick with measles rather than relying on guesswork.
While there may be some extraordinary emergencies where it would be appropriate for a sick doctor to work, this was not one of those situations because there was no shortage of providers who were not infected, said Dr Steier, who runs the Science Literacy Lab and co-wrote an article about Dr Edwards’ conduct.
She also pointed out that the video showed Dr Edwards not wearing a mask.
“You have the Health and Human Services Secretary lifting him up,” she said.
“It’s so, so dangerous. I really feel for the people who are on the ground.”
The Texas Department of State Health Services says there have been 597 confirmed measles cases in Texas since late January, with three killed, including two children.
Read more:
- Measles outbreak reaches 13 cases, including local transmission in a waiting room
- Reaping what RFK Jr helped to sow? Measles is back in the US
More information: Texas Department of State Health Services: Measles outbreak; 18 Apr 2025.
