WASHINGTON — Dr. Mehmet Oz said Sunday that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is not deadly, seeking to clarify the issue after President Trump questioned the combined shot’s safety while signing an executive order earlier this month calling for the three-in-one immunization to be split apart.
Oz, who leads the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said there is no risk of death from the MMR vaccine. At the same time, he defended Trump’s executive order, saying the move is intended to give parents greater say over the timing of their children’s vaccinations.
“The MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine, and it is offered in other countries,” Oz said Sunday on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”
Trump drew scrutiny on Aug. 10 when he suggested possible safety concerns while signing an executive order that pushes for the MMR vaccine to be offered as three separate shots.
“In three separate vaccinations, given at separate times, together there could be a possibility they’re quite lethal,” Trump said at the time. “And separately, it looks like they are not at all lethal, but just very effective. So the MMR, we want to have separate, separate visits, separate times.”
Opponents of the plan have warned that any separate vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella would require approval from the Food and Drug Administration, a process that could take time.
Others, including Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, have cautioned that splitting the vaccines could create practical hurdles for families, including forcing parents to miss additional time from work for multiple appointments.
“We’re going to pay for the vaccines no matter what,” Oz said, referring to CMS. “This comes back to a much more fundamental issue. Do parents have the right to ask questions?”
Oz explained that while it’s ultimately up to the states to determine MMR vaccine requirements for children, Trump’s executive order is to push the states to “offer parents either eligibility because of religious beliefs or other reasons why they may not want to have their kids take all the vaccines in order.”
The two-shot MMR vaccine has been the recommended standard in the US since 1989. Most major developed countries, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, have similar MMR recommendations.
During his wide-ranging interview, Oz also addressed concerns about projections that the Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will go insolvent in about seven years, triggering an automatic benefits cut of about 11%, per the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
“The plan is the Great American Health Act, and that is going to include codifying the Most-Favored-Nation Drug Pricing, which helps,” Oz said of the administration’s response. “The fraud, waste, and abuse issue is important.”
“I’ll just put it in the context of what you just gave me: the insolvency of the Medicare trust fund, which is going to happen in six to seven years, it’ll last twice as long.”
