1 day ago
An Idaho mother charged pinch nan first-degree murders of her 18-month-old twins has blamed their deaths connected vaccines they received 8 days earlier they died. But doctors who reviewed specifications astir nan lawsuit astatine nan petition of nan Guardian opportunity vaccines did not termination them.
“This was not a adjacent call,” said Dr Jake Scott, a objective infectious disease expert astatine Stanford who specializes successful vaccine science. “I tin opportunity pinch assurance what didn’t hap here. It was not nan vaccines.”
Andrea Shaw was indicted for execution past period successful nan deaths of Dallas and Tyson, who were recovered dormant successful their furniture successful Payette, Idaho, connected 1 May 2025.
Three days aft nan twins died, Shaw and her husband, Nathaniel, did a video question and reply pinch Children’s Health Defense (CHD), nan anti-vaccine group that Robert F Kennedy Jr ran for years earlier becoming nan caput of nan US Department of Health and Human Services. At nan time, nary autopsy results had been released and nary origin of decease was publically known.
Despite that deficiency of information, CHD’s Polly Tommey many times blamed vaccines during nan interview. Since then, CHD has cited nan children’s deaths to beforehand nan thought that vaccines are dangerous. An article it published astir nan deaths was a apical communicative connected its website past year, according to its 2025 Impact Report, and it added Shaw arsenic nan lead plaintiff successful a suit nan group revenge against nan American Academy of Pediatrics.
CHD has continued to guidelines by Shaw since her 30 June arrest.
Three doctors who reviewed accusation astir nan lawsuit said it wasn’t imaginable nan children died because of a guidance to immoderate of nan 3 vaccines they received. They based their conclusions connected respective factors, including nan kinds of vaccines they received, nan timing of nan children’s deaths and descriptions of their information successful partial emergency room sojourn reports obtained by nan Guardian. They besides took into relationship Shaw’s explanation of her children’s symptoms and nan origin of decease being wished to beryllium suffocation.
“There’s nary biologic plausibility to a vaccine suffocating somebody,” said Dr Amesh Adalja, an infectious illness expert and elder clever clever astatine nan Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Scott said if nan children were having a deadly guidance to immoderate of nan 3 vaccines they received, it would person been evident wrong minutes aliases hours, not 8 days later.
“These 3 vaccines are each non-live vaccines. The only established measurement that immoderate of them causes a decease is simply a terrible allergic reaction,” he said. “I’ve spent a batch of clip reviewing vaccine information data, and I’m rather definite astir this.”
He said specified a guidance would “absolutely never” termination personification 8 days later.
The timeline
The children each received 3 vaccines connected 23 April 2025: DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis), hepatitis A and influenza. Shaw’s mother-in-law was pinch Shaw and nan children astatine nan assignment and said in a tribunal filing that she told nan caregiver she and her boy had adverse reactions to nan flu shot, but nan caregiver assured them it should not beryllium a concern. Shaw agreed to nan children being vaccinated.
The pursuing day, Shaw took nan twins to nan emergency room because she said they had “severe symptoms including bluish lips, lethargy, and sunken eyes”, according to her suit against nan American Academy of Pediatrics. But partial records from those visits shared pinch nan Guardian by CHD do not bespeak nan children were severely ill, Scott said.
The records of some statement a imaginable vaccine reaction, but picture mild symptoms, not thing serious, Scott said.
“Feeling warm, being fussy, having little power aliases little appetite for a time aliases 2 aft shots – it’s 1 of nan astir communal and expected reactions location is, particularly astatine this age,” he said.
Dallas had a somesthesia of 99, and nan records said she had a decreased activity level, while Tyson was described arsenic “very active”. Both had bully oculus interaction and were taking fluids orally, according to nan records.
Adalja said nan records described a “very benign presentation”.
The children were sent location without further tests.
Shaw has said nan twins continued to do poorly, but connected 30 April, 1 week aft nan travel to nan ER, she told CHD nan twins had improved.
“They were great. That was nan only time since those shots that they were active,” Shaw said successful her video question and reply past year. “They were eating fine. They were drinking retired of their sippy cups fine. They were talking usually finally. And they didn’t want to slumber each day.”
The pursuing morning, she said, she recovered nan twins dormant successful nan furniture they shared.
Scott said that from a purely technological perspective, nan mentation that vaccines were to blasted doesn’t clasp up.
“There is nary vaccine wounded that improves and past kills a kid overnight,” Scott said. “And surely not 2 children successful nan aforesaid night.”
Much anti-vaccine messaging focuses connected mercury and nan preservative thimerosal, but thimerosal was removed from puerility vaccines successful nan US much than 2 decades ago, though it is still successful immoderate multi-dose flu vaccines. A floor plan that elaborate Dallas Shaw’s sojourn to get nan vaccines, and which appeared connected a CHD video past year, shows that nan influenza vaccine she received was nan single-dose, preservative-free formulation, Scott said.
And while astir flu vaccines are grown successful hen’s eggs, prompting concerns for immoderate group pinch ovum allergies, nan vaccine that was recorded successful nan floor plan was not made that way.
“It contains nary ovum macromolecule astatine all,” Scott said.
The lawsuit against Shaw
Shaw’s lawyer, Joseph Filicetti, said he doesn’t person to beryllium beyond a reasonable uncertainty that nan vaccines were nan origin of nan twins’ deaths.
“I’m focused connected a criminal lawsuit pinch my client. And it appears to maine that vaccines” played “a domiciled successful this,” he said. “There’s capable complications going connected and it looks beautiful evident to maine that vaccines are successful play.”
He questioned whether nan doctors nan Guardian consulted would beryllium capable to make their determinations astir vaccines without having afloat entree to nan Shaw twins’ aesculapian records.
“I don’t cognize really a expert could springiness an sentiment without seeing nan full aesculapian record,” Filicetti said.
The conclusions by doctors interviewed by nan Guardian align pinch those of 3 doctors consulted by prosecutors, who said successful a filing this week that they ruled retired different imaginable causes of decease including excessive heat, c monoxide poisoning and different kinds of poisoning.
“The Defendant described them arsenic having a awesome time nan time anterior to their murders. Detectives, pinch nan use of 3 aesculapian doctors, were capable to norm retired vaccines arsenic a origin of death,” charismatic Michael Duke wrote.
Duke told a judge during a enslaved proceeding this week that Shaw changed her communicative “radically”, initially saying she fed nan children meal and went done their routine, earlier backtracking and acknowledging that wasn’t true.
Duke said Shaw told investigators she saw 1 of nan children beryllium up betwixt 1am and 2am erstwhile she checked connected them upon returning location from going retired pinch a friend. Then, he said, she “changed her communicative again to opportunity that she didn’t really spot nan kid beryllium up aft being emphatic that he had”. He said nan children are thought to person died astir that time.
“The reality is this is not a vaccine case,” Duke told nan judge, adding: “This is simply a lawsuit wherever a mother, unfortunately, has killed her 2 children.”
The judge connected Tuesday revoked Shaw’s $2m bond, agreeing pinch nan prosecutor’s statement that she posed a threat to her caller baby, who was calved past month, conscionable days earlier her arrest.
The domiciled of Children’s Health Defense
Scott was highly captious of CHD and its usage of nan lawsuit to further its anti-vaccine cause.
CHD didn’t hold for nan grounds but “built nan communicative first and ignored nan grounds that wholly contradicted it”, Scott said.
Asked why CHD jumped to nan conclusion that vaccines were to blasted earlier a origin of decease was determined, nan organization’s CEO, Mary Holland, said successful an email that nan twins’ deaths travel “a emblematic shape of an adverse guidance to pediatric vaccines”. Though Shaw has been charged pinch 2 counts of execution and aesculapian experts consulted by prosecutors ruled retired vaccines, Holland said CHD is not re-examining its support of Shaw.
“Everyone successful this state is presumed guiltless until it is proven beyond a reasonable uncertainty that they are guilty. We spot nary logic to judge different astir Ms Shaw,” Holland wrote successful an email.
Scott said he didn’t cognize really nan twins died, but he does cognize it wasn’t nan vaccines.
“This is what nan activity does: it finds a tragedy, attaches a vaccine to it” and uses nan condolences to garner support, he said. “An statement that cared astir these children I deliberation would person waited to find retired really they died.”
