Jim Robinson
Posted on 02/15/2012 1:10:19 PM PST by FewsOrange
Pediatricians fed up with parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of concern it can cause autism or other problems increasingly are "firing" such families from their practices, raising questions about a doctor's responsibility to these patients.
Medical associations don't recommend such patient bans, but the practice appears to be growing, according to vaccine researchers.
In a study of Connecticut pediatricians published last year, some 30% of 133 doctors said they had asked a family to leave their practice for vaccine refusal, and a recent survey of 909 Midwestern pediatricians found that 21% reported discharging families for the same reason.
By comparison, in 2001 and 2006 about 6% of physicians said they "routinely" stopped working with families ...
Most pediatricians consider preventing disease through vaccines a primary goal of their job. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and AAP issue an annual recommended vaccination schedule, but some parents ask if their child's immunizations can be pushed back or skipped altogether, pediatricians say. While rates for several key inoculations in young children rose between 2009 and 2010, according to the CDC, lower immunization rates have been blamed as a factor in U.S. outbreaks of whooping cough and measles in recent years.
Parents often voice concerns about autism or that their child's immune system may be overwhelmed by too many vaccines at once. Worries about a link between vaccines and autism arose because some parents noticed their children regressed, or lost some skills, around the time of their vaccinations at two years of age. Another concern centered on the former use of mercury as a vaccine preservative.
Numerous studies since have dispelled these concerns among scientists. Rather, scientists say, it is more likely that autism symptoms begin showing up around the same age children are vaccinated.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
My guess this is being done on the advice of lawyers.
You know some doctor somewhere is getting sued for not vaccinating a child, even though it was the parents that refused the vaccination.
This sounds like a marketing opportunity for a medical practice that doesn’t support vaccination. Surely there is at least one doctor, osteopathic practitioner, chiropractor, or something that would be interested in picking up these customers.
Jesus H. Christmas, some people are stupid....
Vaccine Safety Conference Session 16 Dr. Christopher Exley
And, like with global warming, there are inconvenient facts out there showing that the consensus is wrong. That's not to say the anti-vaccine folks are proved true, just that the science is definitely not settled yet.
Agreed on the legal ramifications. It’s too much exposure for a doctor in these lawsuit days. “Hey didn’t INSIST we inoculate our child,” the formerly adamant against vaccinations mother said. “Now we need money !”
Also, who wants to take their kid to a doctor that also has unvaccinated kids as patients? The risk may be low, but why take it if you don’t have to?
“That’s not to say the anti-vaccine folks are proved true, just that the science is definitely not settled yet.”
We do know that, for instance, not having a polio vaccine leads to polio and often consequences like paralysis.
The science of vaccination is settled. What isn’t settled is whether vaccinations are the cause of certain other ailments or whether it’s just bad parenting.
I submit that it’s not vaccinations that cause any complications, that it’s bad parenting. You may try to prove me wrong, but I’ll just say “the science of bad parenting is FAR from settled”.
These aren’t your kids, they belong to the State!
Now shut up and get back in line. We will give them the meds the State requires, they will learn what the State requires, and they will vote the way the State tells them.
No more of this by the people, for the people BS.....
sorry no /s tag, this is where we are heading.
There is a valid reason for these doctors to refuse to treat these individuals. Prevention of communicable disease often relies upon vaccinations to promote “herd immunity.” This protects individuals who are most susceptible to infectious diseases. (The elderly, the very young and those w/suppressed immune systems such as AIDS patients or those on immunosuppressive drugs; i.e.: transplant patients.)
By allowing children, whose parents refuse to have them vaccinated, access to his/her office, a physician would violate medical ethics and risk possible legal jeopardy for allowing other patients to be exposed to an unnecessary risk.
Why don’t they just make them sign something that says they WERE advised???? And, that they will NOT make any legal claim based on non-vaccinations?
Science has become so politicized nowadays, and scientists so mendacious, that it’s hard to take anything uncritically. For me, vaccination is always a cost/benefit thing. I don’t take them just because they’re available, nor do I take them under the assurance that they’re neither harmless, nor will prove in the long run to be harmless.
Our doctors have always let us decide which vaccinations we want and when. It helps that we homeschool, so we don’t have to deal with the requirements for any daycare or school.
I’m not sure I blame them, I don’t want my kids hanging around in the doctors lobby with some kid with TB or the Measles coughing up a storm because he’s got stupid parents. Also, many children, infants, are too young to get those shots and could easily die from the measles.
I agree with the doctors on this one.
Ironic, I just fired my doctor for this type of bs.
On a side note, my pet peeve is dog owners who don't get their dogs vaccinated for rabies. They keep their dogs under the grid.
3-4 years ago one of these unvaccinated dogs bit a little kid in my area and the dog had symptoms of rabies so they started the painful shots on the kid and sent the dog to the local vet who put it down and chopped off it's head and sent the head to the state lab for testing.
I live in a rural area and many people refuse to vaccinate their pets for rabies. Basic thought is it's their dog and they can do what they want and no one will tell them otherwise. It's unbelievable.
We do know that, for instance, not having a polio vaccine leads to polio and often consequences like paralysis.
This is completely false.
One does not get polio because they do not have the vaccination. In fact Polio is eradicated in the US. The only cases of it are by the oral vaccination that is still offered in other countries.
The science of vaccinations is far from settled. Look at the explosion of disorders in school aged children and the amount of vaccinations that are introduced to a weak non-formed immune system. The science of vaccination is actually a huge science experiment at the expense of the most vulnerable of our society.
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