Two Democrats in Congress — Rep. Kim Schrier and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks — are urging acting CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya to immediately track newborn vitamin K shot refusals and related bleeding after reporting found preventable deaths were going uncounted. The clinical stakes are high: babies who miss the shot are 81 times more likely to develop late vitamin K deficiency bleeding, and CDC says 1 in 5 babies with that bleeding die.

The Move

• Schrier and Alsobrooks sent a letter to the CDC calling refusal of the routine newborn vitamin K shot a “growing and preventable public health crisis.”

• They said the federal government does not currently track vitamin K shot refusal, vitamin K deficiency bleeding, or preventable deaths tied to deficiency.

• The letter followed a ProPublica investigation reporting that some babies died after families declined the inexpensive injection given at birth to support normal clotting.

Why It Matters for Care

• Vitamin K prophylaxis has been standard U.S. newborn care since the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended it for all infants in 1961.

• For clinicians, refusal is not benign: infants who do not receive the shot are 81 times more likely to develop late vitamin K deficiency bleeding, including intracranial hemorrhage.

• AAP leaders say better local and national tracking could help frontline clinicians recognize risk faster when a bleeding infant presents to the ED, nursery, or inpatient service.

Between the Lines

• The policy gap reflects a collision between long-settled newborn practice and a broader erosion of trust in medical institutions, amplified by online misinformation.

• HHS says uptake has declined in recent years as public trust in health care institutions has fallen, especially after the COVID era.

• There is also a messaging vacuum: Sen. Alsobrooks specifically called on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to publicly endorse the shot, arguing that silence from senior officials can shape parental refusal.

What to Watch

• Whether CDC creates or expands surveillance for vitamin K refusal rates, deficiency bleeding, and associated deaths.

• Whether HHS leadership, including Kennedy, more explicitly backs the shot in public communications to parents and clinicians.

• Whether states, hospital systems, or professional societies move first with reporting requirements, dashboards, or renewed counseling guidance as refusal rates rise above 5% nationally.

Source: ProPublica