Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
After an investigation, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office determined the death of anti-vaccine activist Brandy Vaughan was due to natural causes.
Vaughan, a 44-year-old resident of Santa Barbara City, was found down in the bathroom of her E. Sola Street residence on December 7, 2020. Paramedics arrived and life-saving measures were initiated but were unsuccessful, states the Sheriff’s Office.
The Santa Barbara City Police Department responded to the scene and investigated the circumstances surrounding her death. Their investigation found no signs of foul play or anything suspicious to warrant further investigation. Since Vaughan’s death occurred outside the direct care of a medical doctor, the investigation was turned over to the Sheriff / Coroner to determine the cause and manner of death.
“The Sheriff’s Coroner’s Office conducted a thorough investigation which included an autopsy, in depth toxicology screening, interviews and medical record review. At the conclusion of the Coroner’s months long investigation, the Office determined the manner of her death to be Natural, caused by bi-lateral Pulmonary Thromboembolus,” stated the Sheriff’s Office.
The Coroner’s Office concluded its investigation and will be finalizing reports and updating the State of California death certificate accordingly.
Vaughan, a former Merck pharmaceutical representative, was an outspoken critic of pharmaceutical companies and created the nonprofit organization Learn The Risk, formerly named the Council of Vaccine Safety, that aims to educate people on the “dangers of pharmaceutical products, including vaccines and unnecessary medical treatments,” according to the nonprofit’s website.
The Santa Barbara resident and UC Santa Barbara alum stated pharmaceutical companies are intentionally making people sick for profit.
Vaughan had tens of thousands of followers throughout the world, some of whom are questioning the nature of her death and suggesting foul play.
“Rest in peace to my friend and fellow colleague and Activist and hero, Brandy Vaughan founder of Learn The Risk org. Brandi was just found dead by her only son, who is a minor, at such a young age. She posted publicly many times that if she were found dead it was foul play,” wrote Erin Elizabeth of Health Nut News wrote on Twitter.
Vaughan is survived by her son Bastian.
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I find it totally unnecessary and tonedeaf to plug her BS antivax website and opinions, it adds nothing to the article. These dangerous, unscientific views gain traction in large part because they are given a platform to reach the uneducated masses. Just like Facebook made the decision to block all antivax rhetoric and posts, in my opinion we all have a social responsibility to quell these irresponsible and deadly views. Especially so when a pandemic depends on the masses choosing to accept a vaccine!
I agree with 3:39 PM> This report is propaganda and leads to the type of crap we witnessed on Jan 6. Please exorcise some discretion in what gets posted on this site. The ‘anti vaxer” label is a step too respectful. These folks are basically the same as those who believe in witchcraft and the flat earth.
I’m curious if there is a drug available that would have successfully treated her “bi-lateral Pulmonary Thromboembolus”.
@RHS, propaganda??? What article are you reading? This article was tame at best and presented the facts.
Yes, please drive out those evil spirits with some “discretion”.
The reported that because there were rumors that she was killed by pharmaceutical companies due to her campaigning.
@5:16pm, I’m sure you thought that was cute, but wager that her son and loved ones would not. To answer your tongue-in-cheek question, there are drugs that can help to treat them, but unfortunately the majority go undetected and are non-symptomatic until it is too late. So sorry that her life was cut short.
@6:01 pm – One can report facts without linking to websites promoting views that threaten society as we know it (not joking – antivax is THAT serious of a problem), or explaining their backstory that refutes any and all vaccine science as we know it. I believe you are underestimating the threat antivaxxers pose to all of us, and especially to the most vulnerable among us – babies and people with health conditions that preclude them from being able to receive vaccines. Think of it another way: Do news organizations post hyperlinks to the Proud Boys website if there is an article about a Proud Boy? Do they include a little paragraph blurb explaining why the Proud Boys believe what they do? Absolutely not! This is no different.
Are you seriously comparing anti-vaxxers to Proud Boys? Wow, what a leap. Both suck, but one is far more insidious.
It’s important to show the entire picture surrounding her death. No one else gets a press release when they drop dead so the article explains who she is, what she did. Seems rational to me.
@837, I encourage you to do some research on vaccines and herd immunity. Also look into previous disease outbreaks (polio, measles, etc). Try to find some first hand accounts from those times too, so you can really get a feel for the scores of children and adults who suffered terribly and died from these illnesses, for centuries. Take a look at historical infant mortality rates and life expectancy before and after major vaccines have been adopted. Antivaxxers are a massive threat to all of us, and if you look at the data, even moreso to marginalized groups with low socioeconomic status. I totally get the knee-jerk reaction that comparing to Proud Boys is going to elicit, I hesitated to make the comparison, but it is THAT serious of an issue. Society should shun the antivax community just as they do hate groups.
@900, I never said I agreed or support antivaxxers. They suck, they’re dangerous, and it is serious especially now during a pandemic. But to compare them to a group of white supremacists who attempted to overthrow the government and kill government officials is comparing apples to oranges. I don’t even think antivaxxers would qualify as a hate group, a cult maybe?