evidence: THE TRAGEDY now unfolding in the Pacific island state of Samoa is a case study of how wrongheaded information about vaccines can lead to injury and death. Samoa’s population of about 195,000 is less than Arlington County’s, but it has suffered a major outbreak of measles that has led to 68 deaths, most of them children. It could and should have been prevented, and must be taken as a lesson for the rest of the world. The Samoa outbreak can be traced back to July 2018, when two year-old children were given what was supposed to be the MMR vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Both infants died. Later it was determined that two nurses had improperly prepared the inoculations by mixing in a lethal dose of muscle relaxant; one of the nurses tried to cover up the error. That nurse was charged with manslaughter and obstruction of justice and sentenced to 5½ years in prison in August; the second nurse was charged with manslaughter and received a five-year prison sentence.