Jennifer Kent Spoke The Truth About Anti-Vaxxers -- And She Paid With Her Job

I was a little shocked when Jennifer Kent announced earlier this month she was resigning as director of the Department of Health Care Services. It’s perhaps the single most important healthcare agency in Sacramento, overseeing the Medi-Cal program, which currently insures one in every three Californians.

            Apparently, Kent violated one of the prime rules of politics: She told the unvarnished truth. That came from her Facebook page, where she called the gratingly loopy (and now increasingly dangerous) anti-vaxxers who had been protesting a bill at the Capitol a bunch of “flat-Earthers” who had covered the large bronze bear statue near Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office with “unvaccinated booger-eater germs.” She concluded the post with the hashtags: #believeinscience #vaccinateyourgoddamnkids.”

            In an ideal universe, this should have gotten Kent some kind of public service award. In real life, all it got her was the boot. She didn’t disclose the specific reason she was leaving DHCS, but it is likely Newsom showed her the door. Having been an appointee of his predecessor, Gov. Jerry Brown, Newsom probably had his own person in mind for the post, and Kent conveniently supplied the ammo for her own execution.

            However, Kent is absolutely right about quacks such as disgraced former British physician Andrew Wakefield, weepy, granola-dripping helicopter moms and the other assorted characters behind the anti-vaccination movement. Their shared delusion that vaccines or their preservatives cause autism has been widely debunked.

Nevertheless, as a result of the refusal of this cohort to vaccinate their kids, cases of measles in California, the U.S. and the world have skyrocketed. Pakistan is currently fighting a reemergence of polio due to the global push behind this stupidity. Both measles and polio kill, and the world heaved a collective sigh of relief when vaccines all but wiped them out in the middle of the last century.

Certainly, Kent’s post was a little over-the-top, but given Facebook has fueled many of the conspiracy theories behind vaccines, it seemed perfectly in proportion to the disinformation that platform allows to be slinged around like so much crap hash.

            And if Kent’s departure was compelled, it seems to overlook the fact that the anti-vaxxers have recently transformed from being merely obnoxious to downright violent.

            One of the recipients of this violence was state Sen. Richard Pan., D-Sacramento. Pan, himself a physician, has authored much of the recently enacted legislation curbing the abuse of vaccine exemptions.

            Kenneth Bennett, an anti-vaxxer who failed in an effort to recall Pan, shoved the lawmaker outside of the Capitol building last month. Bennett ingeniously chose to livestream his assault of Pan to Facebook. He’s now facing misdemeanor charges as a result.

            Then, last week, yet another anti-vaxxer, Rebecca Lee Dalelio, allegedly hurled a menstrual cup full of blood on the Senate floor during its last day in session, striking Sen. Melissa Hurtado, D-Fresno, and the desks of several lawmakers. She’s now facing a felony vandalism charge and five misdemeanors in connection with the act.

            Pan, to his great credit, attacked the anti-vaxxers directly, issuing a statement that said in part that the blood incident “was incited by the violent rhetoric perpetuated by leaders of the anti-vaxx movement. As their rhetoric escalates, their incidents of violence does as well. This is an attack on the democratic process and it must be met with strong condemnation by everyone.”

            By contrast, Kent’s remarks seem quaint. These aren’t just some harmless flat-Earther cranks, but people who have shown themselves capable of multiple acts of violence. And in today’s America, violence only seems to escalate. Will a lawmaker be seriously injured next? Or maybe even killed? I’m sure that question is lurking in the backs of the minds of public servants such as Pan and Hurtado.

            And if Kent was shown the door due to her remarks, she should be ushered back into her office. She has done nothing more than call the nutcases out for what they are.

            Meanwhile, as we start moving toward flu and virus season, I renew my previous call on these pages for local district attorneys to charge any parents whose kids contract measles because they refuse to vaccinate them with felony child endangerment. Of course, if the child dies, the parents should face manslaughter charges as well.

            It’s become abundantly clear that the anti-vaxxers are not only dangerously misinformed, but capable of violence as well. It’s high time to stamp the energy out of their movement -- instead of stamping out the careers of competent public health servants.

Ron Shinkman is the Editor of Payers & Providers.