RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Joseph Ladapo, Florida's surgeon general, is once again spreading health-related misinformation.
At a recent press conference, Ladapo was asked about ongoing measles outbreaks in the state. Though Ladapo did reiterate his support for measles vaccination, he also appeared to suggest that some people at a local Catholic university might have avoided getting their shots because the vaccine was developed with cells from an aborted fetus—a misleading claim often espoused by the antivaccination movement.
"[W]hether there’s a connection between the fact that you know some of the students at this university chose not to receive that vaccine, and it happens to be a vaccine that is related to the practice of abortion, I’m not sure," Ladapo said at one point, according to the Florida Phoenix, a local media outlet.
Measles has made an unfortunate comeback in the U.S. At least 2,318 cases have been reported nationwide this year, already eclipsing last year's case toll. And while it's not official yet, it's likely the U.S. has lost its measles-free status, meaning the virus is endemic in the country again.
Though states like Texas and Utah have been hit harder by recent measles outbreaks, Florida isn't too far behind. The state has reported at least 141 cases this year, the fifth-most in the U.S. A substantial proportion of these cases have been traced back to students attending Ave Maria University, a private Catholic college in Collier County. And it's these cases that Ladapo was attempting to explain away at a press conference held last Friday.
“You know, for some people—people may or may not know that the measles vaccines is developed with the cells that are a progeny from…an aborted fetus," Ladapo said.
This claim, like many made by the anti-vaccination movement, is misleading . Measles is prevented through a combination vaccine that covers measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). No vaccine today, including the MMR, contains fetal cells. The rubella portion of the vaccine is created using viruses grown in human cell cultures originally derived from two aborted fetuses in the 1960s, but no additional fetal tissue has been used to keep them alive in the decades since. What's more, the purification process clears any traces of these cell cultures from the final vaccine product, meaning there's no "fetal debris" left behind.
And while the Catholic Church does encourage the development of vaccines that aren't created with these fetal cell lines, it has explicitly continued to endorse vaccines that have no other alternative, including the MMR shot. In 2017, the Pontifical Academy for Life issued guidance stating that families should vaccinate their children as recommended and that they can do so with a "clear conscience."
Though Ladapo has endorsed measles vaccination, he certainly has a history supporting ideas not backed by the overall science.
Florida's Surgeon General Is Now Peddling Fake Water
Since taking over as the state’s surgeon general in September 2021, for instance, Ladapo has repeatedly misrepresented the safety of vaccines, particularly the covid-19 shot , and he's questioned the value of vaccine mandates in general (he once compared mandates to slavery ). In September 2025, Ladapo stated his intention to remove all of Florida’s school vaccine mandates—a plan so controversial that even President Donald Trump expressed his disdain for it. So far, however, his plan has failed to get off the ground.
Earlier this January, he also endorsed the use of structured water, a fictional form of water that’s become popular among fans of alternative medicine.
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