Newborn vitamin K refusals spike 57%, raising risk of severe bleeding - staradvertiser.com
Refusals of the standard newborn vitamin K shot have increased by 57% in the U.S. during the first half of the year. Health experts attribute this trend to growing vaccine hesitancy and public skepticism fueled by rhetoric from federal health officials.
Why it matters
The decline in preventative newborn care poses a significant public health risk, potentially leading to an increase in life-threatening bleeding disorders in infants.
An illustration photo shows Phytonadione, a synthetic version of vitamin K, at a pediatric clinic in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Aug. 6. The percentage of parents and caregivers in the United States refusing a standard vitamin K shot for infants at birth has accelerated sharply this year, an exclusive data analysis for Reuters found, putting more newborns at risk of life-threatening bleeding episodes.
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivers remarks while President Donald Trump listens during a press conference to announce a link between autism and childhood vaccines and the use of the popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of science, at the White House in Washington, D.C., in September 2025.
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