Texas announces childhood vaccine probe as RFK-backed group files RICO case against AAP
The state of Texas is investigating whether drug companies, pediatricians and healthcare payers colluded in a “multi-level, multi-industry scheme” to recommend vaccines to children that are not medically necessary.
In an announcement on Jan. 21, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office is seeking to understand what financial incentives exist in recommending that Texans “receive over 70 shots from birth to age 18.” Paxton said that, under state law, unless parents comply, their children could historically lose access to medical care.
“The investigation comes as children across the state are expelled from pediatric practices and denied medical care based on their vaccination status,” Paxton’s office wrote in a statement. “Doctors’ wages, bonuses and even employment often hinge on the number of vaccinations they administer.”
The attorney general went on to say he aims to “ensure that ‘big pharma’ and ‘big insurance’ don’t bribe medical providers to pressure parents to jab their kids with vaccines they feel aren’t safe or necessary.”
He added that Texas is seeking to align itself with President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, which in this context includes examining whether business interests conflict with public health.
Pediatrics association faces RICO complaint
Paxton did not specify which Texas laws mandate vaccines for children, nor did he cite specific examples of children being denied care for missing one or more inoculations.
He did, however, allude to a lawsuit filed by the Kennedy-backed Children's Health Defense, a vaccine skeptic lobby. The same day Paxton made his announcement, the group filed its own racketeering lawsuit against the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), alleging it engaged in corruption akin to organized crime.
Court documents name the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) as the justification for litigation.
The AAP filed its own lawsuit last summer, pushing back against new recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that advised against giving pregnant women and healthy children the COVID jab. That complaint has since been amended to include other agencies under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) umbrella.
This is a developing story.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.