KENTUCKY: Republican Governor Matt Bevin Says He Deliberately Exposed His Nine Children To Chicken Pox

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports:

In a move experts say is medically unsound — and can be dangerous — Gov. Matt Bevin said in a radio interview Tuesday that he deliberately exposed all nine of his children to chickenpox so they would catch the disease and become immune.

“Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox,” Bevin said in an interview with WKCT. “They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I went and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it. They had it as children. They were miserable for a few days, and they all turned out fine.”

Three medical experts called the practice unsafe and unwise. “I would never recommend or advise it,” said Dr. Robert Jacobson, a pediatrician and expert in vaccines and childhood diseases at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “It’s just dangerous.”