Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton has recently been criticized for investigating pediatricians who vaccinated children. The action is reportedly seen as a scare tactic by doctors, and Texas residents have complained about the Republican candidate’s actions.
As reported by The New York Times, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), doctors, drug companies, and insurers have been accused by Paxton’s office of “conspiring to push parents into vaccinating children.” Requests for doctors to provide records of vaccines they purchased have forced multiple pediatricians to spend thousands of dollars, and some have even revealed that they are reconsidering their futures in medicine.
The investigation aligns with the federal government’s stance on vaccines. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for example, has said multiple times that doctors profit from offering vaccines. Public health advocates believe this investigation is a scare tactic intended to intimidate pediatricians into not recommending vaccines, which could directly affect immunization rates in Texas.
Texans Criticize Paxton For Investigating Pediatricians
Texas residents on r/Texas were appalled to discover that this was happening and blamed Paxton for siding with anti-vaccine groups. One of them wrote: “How did we get here? Vaccines save lives. Full stop. The anti-vax movement is one of the most insidious we have ever faced. It is comprised of the uneducated and those who seek a false sense of superiority. It is based on lies, misdirection, and manipulated half-truths.”
What seemed to enrage most Texans was how this could affect people’s health: “Children dying or suffering from preventable sicknesses is just a price Paxton and Republicans are willing to pay to get votes from the MAGA [expletive].” Some also theorized that it could lead to doctors leaving Texas: “Soon, Texas will have 1 doctor per 100k Texans.”
Some folks seemed outraged by the situation: “They’re being investigated for doing their jobs?” Others, seemingly hopeless that anything would change, wrote: “I am so EXCITED I’m casting my last vote as a Texan in November followed by moving out of this state.”
A few locals even mocked the anti-vaccine movement, saying: “The original anti-vax movement was convinced that the Cowpox vaccine would turn people into cows.”
It remains to be seen how the next attorney general will deal with the subject of vaccinations after Paxton leaves office, but the issue will likely remain controversial.
