Doctors across the nation are alarmed that skepticism fueled by rising anti-science sentiment and medical mistrust is increasingly reaching beyond vaccines to other proven, routine, preventive care for babies.
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which analyzed more than 5 million births nationwide, found that refusals of vitamin K shots nearly doubled between 2017 and 2024, from 2.9% to 5.2%. Other research suggests that parents who decline vitamin K shots are much more likely to refuse getting their newborns the hepatitis B vaccine and an eye ointment to prevent potentially blinding infections. Rates for that vaccination at birth dropped in recent years, and doctors confirm that more parents are refusing the eye medication.
“I do think these families care deeply about their infants,” said Dr. Kelly Wade, a Philadelphia neonatologist. “But I hear from families that it’s hard to make decisions right now because they’re hearing conflicting information.”
To be fair, that’s a stupid claim here:
The drops are less effective than the drops but both are still in the same order of magnitude, that is, reducing the risk to below 1/100,000. Not perfect but far from “can’t absorb well”. They are the standard in some countries.
From a public health perspective, doctors should just offer these (but now regulated) drops when parents decline the more effective injection. It’s significantly better than leaving it up to the parents to YOLO it and potentially under- or overdose it or not do it at all.