---
title: "FDA Head: Anti-Vaxxers Could Soon Cause an Epidemic"
description: "## Shots Shots Shots"
date: "2019-03-18"
modified: "2019-03-18"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/fda-anti-vaxxers-cause-epidemic"
categories:
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "fda"
  - "health"
  - "medicine"
  - "vaccines"
---

# FDA Head: Anti-Vaxxers Could Soon Cause an Epidemic

![FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb says that anti-vaxxers are putting the country at risk of facing epidemics of dangerous, preventable diseases.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/fda-anti-vaxxers-cause-epidemic.png>)
*\<em\>Image: PIRO4D/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

## Shots Shots Shots

According to FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, the one single thing that would vastly improve the healthcare system is if people would get vaccinated.

Otherwise, Gottlieb [told *Business Insider*](<https://www.businessinsider.com/scott-gottlieb-fda-vaccines-key-fix-for-us-health-system-2019-3>), America could find itself in the midst of an epidemic of dangerous, preventable diseases that have already started to resurface thanks to anti-vaxxers.

"It's not going to be a gradual evolution towards the resurgence of certain diseases that were once vanquished," Gottlieb told *BI*. "It's going to be all of a sudden, we're going to see epidemics and maybe worse than that."

## Die Antwoord

Anti-vaxxers, deemed one of the [greatest public health threats](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/who-anti-vaxxers-greatest-threats>) on Earth by the World Health Organization, are people who ignore the mountain of scientific evidence establishing that vaccines are a safe and effective way to prevent dangerous diseases like polio and measles. Many cite the [thoroughly-debunked myth](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/study-vaccines-dont-cause-autism>) that vaccines cause autism spectrum disorder as justification to not vaccinate themselves, their children, or even [their pets](<https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/24/anti-vaxxers-new-target-their-sights-pets>).

The anti-vaxxer movement has already led to [120 cases of measles](<https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/2/16/18223764/measles-outbreak-2019-vaccines-anti-vax>) in the U.S. in this year alone. And if people don't get with the program, Gottlieb told *BI* that the problem could get worse.

## Loopholes

Because vaccination requirements are determined at the state level, people in some areas have been able to avoid vaccinating their children by exploiting loopholes in local law.

Though Gottlieb is [poised to retire](<https://www.businessinsider.com/fda-commissioner-scott-gottlieb-to-resign-2019-3>) in the next few weeks, he suggested to *BI* that some problems caused by anti-vaxxers could be prevented by taking a closer look at those exemptions and tightening regulations.

"You see complacency around some of the achievements that we've made, and declining willingness, or even confidence in, some of the products that have vanquished a lot of human illness," Gottlieb told *BI*.

**READ MORE:** [The FDA's top leader says the US is approaching a tipping point on vaccines that could lead to 'epidemics and maybe worse'](<https://www.businessinsider.com/scott-gottlieb-fda-vaccines-key-fix-for-us-health-system-2019-3>) \[*Business Insider*\]

**More on vaccines:** *[Italy Bans Unvaccinated Children From Going to School](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/italy-unvaccinated-children-sent-home>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)