An 11-Day-Old Baby Couldn’t Stop Bleeding. For Hours, the ER Didn’t Provide a Critical Vitamin Shot. by Duaa Eldeib November 8, 2026, 5:00 am (+++)

An 11-Day-Old Baby Couldn’t Stop Bleeding. For Hours, the ER Didn’t Provide a Critical Vitamin Shot. by Duaa Eldeib November 8, 2026, 5:00 am https://www.propublica.org/article/vitamin-k-shot-texas-lonestar-emergency-room-nicole-malouf Reporting Highlights A Risky Decision: When Baby Gwen was born, her parents decided not to have her receive a vitamin K injection, though it’s been standard practice for decades, and gave her drops instead. Desperate Efforts: The emergency room doctor who first treated Gwen tried seven methods to stop the bleeding from her belly button before the baby was transferred to a hospital. Questions of Treatment: The family filed a complaint against the ER doctor with the Texas Medical Board, which alleged she didn’t recognize that Gwen had vitamin K deficiency bleeding. A Popular Doctor Had Long Warned That Vitamin K Shots Are Risky for Newborns. Now He’s Changed His Tune. After ProPublica contacted Dr. Joseph Mercola for an article on babies dying after parents turned down vitamin K shots, he publicly reversed his long-held stance that the shots weren't needed. “The data is clear: vitamin K saves lives,” he wro by Duaa Eldeib June 12, 2026, 5:00 am https://www.propublica.org/article/vitamin-k-shot-joseph-mercola-reversal-babies Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth by Duaa Eldeib May 6, 2026, 6:00 am https://www.propublica.org/article/more-parents-decline-vitamin-k-shot-newborns Reporting Highlights An Essential Shot: Vitamin K shots, which help the blood to clot, are one of three key interventions for newborns, along with an antibiotic eye ointment and the hepatitis B vaccine. Increasing Rejections: The government doesn’t track vitamin K rejections, but hospitals have seen a rise in parents opting out of the shots for their newborns, often driven by unfounded fears. Troubling Data: Hundreds of children die each year from spontaneous bleeding in the brain, a common result of vitamin K deficiency, suggesting that many related deaths go unreported.