School nurses are used to being on the front lines fielding questions about vaccines, calming fears, and making sure families get the facts, not the Facebook comments. But this week, the misinformation we usually handle in our schools showed up as blatant disinformation in the U.S. Senate—and it was louder and more dangerous than ever.
At a Senate hearing called “Voices of the Vaccine Injured”, Senator Ron Johnson handed the microphone to anti-vaccine activists instead of scientific experts. People with ties to Children’s Health Defense (yes, that’s Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s group) repeated long-debunked myths—that vaccines cause autism, that they’re killing kids. The same tired, dangerous talking points we’ve been fighting for years were suddenly front and center in our nation’s Capitol.
There were no tough questions. No pushback. No actual science. What did get attacked? The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP)—a fair, science-based system that helps families when something does go wrong. Tearing down the VICP isn’t about helping families—it’s about making room for lawsuits. And guess who profits from those lawsuits? Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who takes a cut from the settlements his organization helps bring to court.
This hearing is part of something bigger. There’s a clear, coordinated effort happening to tear down public trust in vaccines and the people and systems that protect us. We’re seeing vaccine recommendations rolled back. Public health experts pushed aside. Wild, unproven claims repeated like facts.
And now? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Public Health Association (APHA) are suing HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. because of it. Think about that. Our top medical voices feel they have no other choice but to take legal action to defend science itself. That should tell us everything.
What you didn’t hear in that Senate hearing were the voices that really matter—families who lost children to diseases we can prevent. These parents would give anything to go back in time and get one more chance to vaccinate.
Groups like Vaccinate Your Family and Families Fighting Flu are sharing those stories, and they need our support. Because every time disinformation spreads, more families are put at risk.
We don’t have the national spotlight, but we do have something powerful—trust. School nurses are some of the most trusted professionals in the country. When we speak, people listen. So let’s make it count:
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Let them know this isn’t OK. Public health agencies must be protected from political interference. You can find them here.
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Support organizations like AAP, APHA, and others pushing back on this dangerous narrative.
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Whether it’s a parent group, school board meeting, or social media post—don’t let misinformation go unchecked.
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Use real, evidence-based resources like those from Immunize.org, or Vaccinate Your Family to help families feel confident, not confused.
This is exhausting, I know. But we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines. Disinformation is a public health emergency. And we have to treat it like one.
We’ve come too far to let science be erased by fear and noise. Our work doesn’t stop when the school day ends—it carries all the way to the halls of power. And when those halls echo with lies, we show up with the truth.
Stay loud. Stay grounded.
And as always—stay relentless.
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