Dave

Deception should not have any part in public health. foxnews.com/politics/pennsyl…

Fact: At the Governor’s measles press conference, and in other statements, officials emphasized the two deaths were of “unvaccinated” individuals, although they gave no other information about the individuals. Fact: Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen has stated she “thoroughly” reviewed both cases. Fact: My independent investigation and consultation with the County Coroner revealed that one of the cases was an infant who died in childbirth. Fact: An infant who dies in childbirth had no opportunity to get vaccinated. Conclusion: If Dr. Bogen actually “thoroughly” reviewed the case she would obviously know there was no opportunity for the infant to be vaccinated. Thus, stating a technically true fact, but hiding the other relevant information, indicates an attempt to deceive the public. The framing, or underlying assertion was that the non-vaccination of the deceased individual was a choice, and an unwise choice at that. But the deceased infant of course had no choice. That is deception. Fact: Deaths or suspected deaths due to contagious disease, including measles, are required to be reported the County Coroner. Fact: In response to the questions I raised about why the second case has not been reported to the County Coroner, the Pennsylvania Department of Health put out a statement with the following sentence: “Not all deaths are referred to a coroner under Pennsylvania law.” (DOH Statement on 8/26/26.) This sentence is technically correct. For instance, an elderly patient who dies of natural causes would not necessarily be referred to the County Coroner. However, the law does require a death known or suspected to be due to contagious disease be reported to the coroner. Thus, the coroner should have a record of any measles related death in Lancaster County. Conclusion: The PA Dept of Health while stating a technically true fact, was attempting to deceive the public. In the law, when trying cases in court, there is a jury instruction called “false in one, false in all.” It is the from the Latin term “falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” It means that if you find a witness lied about a material fact, the jury may choose to reject the rest of the witness’s testimony. That seems appropriate here. If this is a mistake, Dr. Bogen and the Governor should come out and state that and apologize. We all make mistakes, I have certainly said incorrect and even foolish things as an elected official. But allowing these statements to stand appears worse than foolishness. It appears to be a failed attempt to deceive the public.

I'm not. I am reiterating what our County Coroner, who is a doctor, and who has legal authority to rule on deaths, has said - and he said it was not measles. I do have the right to ask questions and to weigh in on things that impact our county, and this certainly does.