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In a post on X, formerly Twitter, from his official government account, Kennedy criticized Shapiro over a Tuesday press conference in which the governor discussed the ongoing measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, including the fatalities in Lancaster County.
"The announcement appears to have been premature, and the deaths may even have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor's hopeful staffers," the secretary claimed. "The Lancaster County Coroner says that it has no record of any measles deaths. State law requires that all measles deaths be reported to the coroner."
Dr. Debra Bogen, Pennsylvania's secretary of health, contested the validity of the claims made by Kennedy without naming the Trump official.
"As a pediatrician with more than 30 years of caring for children, I have thoroughly reviewed the case investigation information and sadly can confirm that there were two recent measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County, which were reported to the CDC's measles response team early Tuesday morning," she said in a statement.
"DOH's Epidemiology team thoroughly investigated and verified both individuals tested positive for measles. The information was not reported to the public until the results of the epidemiological investigations were confirmed. Under state law, PA DOH is not required to report deaths to coroners," Bogen added.