As Florida schools race to contain a potentially fatal measles outbreak, all eyes are on Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, whose response to the crisis has drawn criticism from medical professionals across the United States.
After six measles cases were confirmed at a Florida elementary school, Ladapo sent a letter to parents with some controversial recommendations. Instead of urging parents of unvaccinated children to keep them home for the recommended 21-day incubation period, Ladapo said the state was “deferring to parents or guardians” to decide on whether to bring their kids to school.
His letter runs in direct contradiction to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for how to handle a measles outbreak. And experts have warned that the consequences could be deadly. Measles is both highly contagious and highly unpredictable. Roughly 1 in 5 people with measles end up hospitalized. The disease can also lead to permanent hearing loss and even death.
“It runs counter to everything I have ever heard and everything that I have read,” Ben Hoffman, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told the Washington Post. “It runs counter to our policy. It runs counter to what the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] would recommend.”
This isn’t the first time Ladapo, who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has raised alarm bells. Ladapo was heavily criticized for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which he was accused of laundering anti-vaccine propaganda through his office by promoting false narratives about the safety of the vaccine.
Rebekah Jones, a former Florida data scientist who told CBS News she was removed from her position regarding a rift over COVID-19 data, told the outlet she wasn’t surprised that Ladapo has opened Floridians up to potential danger.
“I think this is the predictable outcome of turning fringe, anti-vaccine rhetoric into a defining trait of the Florida government,” she told CBS.