After Daisy Hildebrand died of measles, her death was made public first by Dr. Robert Malone, a vaccine skeptic who blamed the hospital for fumbling her care. Daisy’s father told The Texas Tribune he never to spoke to Malone. When Daisy Hildebrand became the second Texas child to die of measles on April 3, her physicians reported – per the state health code – the 8-year-old’s death to local officials in Lubbock where she died and in tiny Gaines County where the girl lived.
In deference to the girl’s family, who planned to bury her the following Sunday, officials determined that sharing the news with the public could wait until the following week. “There’s a protocol that is generally followed,” said Zach Holbrooks, the executive director of the South Plains Public Health District, which covers four counties, including Gaines. “We put information out in a measured, careful manner.”