It makes sense to approach some marketing efforts with skepticism. Scams, deepfakes, and deceptive social media posts are common, with people you don’t know seeking to profit from your behavior.
But should people extend this same skepticism to pediatricians who advise vaccines for children? Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said financial bonuses are driving such recommendations.
“Doctors are being paid to vaccinate, not to evaluate,” Kennedy said in an Aug. 8 video posted on the social platform X. “They’re pressured to follow the money, not the science.”
Doctors and public health officials have been fielding questions on this topic for years.
A close look at the process by which vaccines are administered shows pediatric practices make little profit — and sometimes lose money — on vaccines. Four experienced pediatricians told us evidence-based science and medicine drive pediatricians’ childhood vaccination recommendations. Years of research and vaccine safety data also bolster these recommendations.
Christoph Diasio, a pediatrician at Sandhills Pediatrics in North Carolina, said the argument that doctors profit off vaccines is counterintuitive.
“If it was really about all the money, it would be better for kids to be sick so you’d see more sick children and get to take care of more sick children, right?” he said.
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Is Your Pediatrician Profiting Off Childhood Vaccines?
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