Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Childhood Disease Like Measles Help 'Keep You Healthy And Fight Cancer,' Says Wife Of White House Official
The Washington Post: Darla Shine Tweets False Claims That Childhood Diseases 'Keep You Healthy & Fight Cancer'
Darla Shine, the wife of White House communications director Bill Shine, appears to be tweeting about childhood diseases, claiming that illnesses such as measles, mumps and chickenpox “keep you healthy & fight cancer.” Health experts warn that the claim is not true and adds to misinformation that could cause harm. Darla Shine, who has been known to tweet out stories with anti-vaccination claims, wrote Wednesday on Twitter that “The entire Baby Boom population alive today had the #Measles as kids." (Bever, 2/14)
The Hill: White House Communications Director’s Wife Criticizes Vaccines: 'Bring Back Our #ChildHoodDiseases'
“The entire Baby Boom population alive today had the #Measles as kids,” Darla Shine wrote on Twitter. “I had the #Measles #Mumps #ChickenPox as a child and so did every kid I knew - Sadly my kids had #MMR so they will never have the life long natural immunity I have. Come breathe on me!” (Gstalter, 2/14)
Bloomberg: Facebook Says It May Remove Anti-Vaccine Recommendations
Facebook Inc., under pressure to reduce harmful, misleading and fake content, said it is exploring removing anti-vaccine information from software systems that recommend other things to read on its social network. Information discouraging people from getting vaccines for their children, which has gone viral on Facebook, especially in its Groups product, may have contributed to an increase in outbreaks of measles. The crisis drew attention on Thursday from Representative Adam Schiff, who sent a letter to Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Google boss Sundar Pichai, asking them to address the problem. (Frier, 2/14)
The Oregonian: Only One New Measles Case In Vancouver-Area Outbreak Over A Week -- But Still Not At The End
There has been only one person newly diagnosed with measles in a week. Clark County Public Health announced Thursday that they have no updates to the count of people with measles. The official count between Oregon and Washington is 58, with the vast majority centered in the Vancouver area. Four people in Oregon and one man in the Seattle area make up the rest. (Harbarger, 2/14)
