With the Wind with Dr. Paul — Show 211: Pediatric Perspectives: Breaking Down Measles Misinformation with Ben Edwards, M.D. and Polly Tommey

A doctor who treated measles on the ground in Texas, and a pediatrician forced to answer for the vaccine schedule himself — this episode covers both sides of the story.

In this episode, I'm joined by Ben Edwards, M.D., founder and medical director of Veritas Medical, who treated children directly during the Texas measles outbreak. Then Polly Tommey sits down with me to ask the questions parents are actually asking about the MMR vaccine. I'm answering them.

In this episode, we cover:

• What measles actually looks like on the ground, from a doctor who treated it firsthand in Gaines County
• Why budesonide, delivered by nebulizer, worked so well for measles pneumonitis
• Nutrition, cod liver oil, and vitamin A dosing to build a child's resilience before and during illness
• Warning signs that mean it's time for the emergency room
• What's actually in the MMR vaccine, and what changed in the package insert
• The financial incentives built into the childhood vaccine schedule
• The 1986 Immunization Act, liability, and how measles death risk compares to reported vaccine death risk

Treating Measles on the Ground in Gaines County

Ben Edwards is likely the most experienced doctor in the country when it comes to actually treating measles in 2026. He drove to Gaines County, Texas, and saw the disease up close: fever, rash, cough, conjunctivitis, following a predictable course over about a week. In a subset of children, he saw what he calls measles pneumonitis, an inflammation of the airway. Not a bacterial pneumonia. Inflammation. He treated it with nebulized budesonide, an inhaled steroid, and watched babies turn around within hours. He did not see encephalitis in a single case.

Building Resilience: Nutrition, Cod Liver Oil, and Budesonide

Ben's advice starts with food. Real food. Pasture-raised eggs, grass-fed butter, organ meats, cod liver oil for vitamin A and D. He observed that breastfed babies did better than bottle-fed babies in his clinic, and he leaned on cod liver oil, not isolated high-dose vitamin A, as his daily recommendation. A teaspoon a day for school-age kids, a quarter teaspoon for infants. His warning signs for parents to seek emergency care: respiratory distress, nasal flaring, retractions, oxygen saturation dropping into the 80s, or a child who isn't taking fluids.

The MMR Ingredients I Can't Ignore

When Polly turned the interview on me, I walked through what's actually in the MMR vaccine: neomycin, glutamate, chick embryo cell cultures, fetal bovine serum, and a human diploid lung fibroblast line derived from an aborted fetus. I also found something in the current package insert that gives me pause: there's no upper dose limit on the live viruses in MMR II, when past studies show high-dose live virus formulations caused death. Studies have measured antibodies against myelin basic protein in children with autism at rates far above baseline. That's not nothing.

Financial Incentives, Liability, and Real Informed Consent

I told Polly what I rarely say publicly: pediatric practices on an insurance model do not survive without vaccine revenue. Admin fees alone can run over a thousand dollars per baby by 18 months. Vaccination-rate bonuses reward high compliance. And since the 1986 Immunization Act, no one in that chain, manufacturer, nurse, or doctor, can be sued when a child is injured. When we compare real numbers, the reported risk of death from measles is roughly one in 1.6 million. The reported risk of death from the vaccine is roughly one in 100,000. That's worth sitting with before anyone calls this settled.

#WithTheWindWithDrPaul, #PediatricPerspectives, #MeaslesTruth, #BenEdwardsMD, #PollyTommey, #InformedConsent, #VaxFacts, #ChildrensHealth, @KidsFirst4Ever, @DoctorsAndScience

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