Some doctors won't
see patients with anti-vaccine views
By ALICIA CHANG
AP Science Writer
AP Science Writer
Jan 30, 3:35 AM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With California gripped by a measles
outbreak, Dr. Charles Goodman posted a clear notice in his waiting room and on Facebook:
His practice will no longer see children whose parents won't get them
vaccinated.
"Parents who choose not to give measles shots, they're
not just putting their kids at risk, but they're also putting other kids at
risk - especially kids in my waiting room," the Los Angeles pediatrician
said.
It's a sentiment echoed by a small number of doctors who in
recent years have "fired" patients who continue to believe debunked
research linking vaccines to autism. They hope the strategy will lead
parents to change their minds; if that fails, they hope it will at least reduce
the risk to other children in the office.
The tough-love approach - which comes amid the nation's
second-biggest measles outbreak in at least 15 years, with at least 98 cases
reported since last month - raises questions about doctors' ethical
responsibilities. Most of the measles cases have been traced directly or
indirectly to Disneyland
in Southern California.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says doctors should bring
up the importance of vaccinations during visits but should respect a parent's
wishes unless there's a significant risk to the child.
"In general, pediatricians should avoid discharging
patients from their practices solely because a parent refuses to immunize his
or her child," according to guidelines issued by the group.
However, if the relationship between patient and doctor
becomes unworkable, the pediatrics academy says, the doctor may want to
encourage the vaccine refuser to go to another physician.
Some mothers who have been dropped by their doctors feel
"betrayed and upset," said Dotty Hagmier, founder of the support
group Moms in Charge. She said these parents made up their minds about vaccines
after "careful research and diligence to understand the risks versus the
benefits for their own children's circumstances."
Dropping patients who refuse vaccines has become a hot topic
of discussion on SERMO, an online doctor hangout. Some doctors are adamant
about not accepting patients who don't believe in vaccinations, with some
saying they don't want to be responsible for someone's death from an illness
that was preventable.
Others warn that refusing treatment to such people will just
send them into the arms of quacks.
The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine, or MMR, is 97
percent effective at preventing measles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
Measles spreads easily through the air and in enclosed
spaces. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, cough and a rash all over the body.
In rare cases, particularly among babies, measles can be deadly. Infection can
also cause pregnant women to miscarry or give birth prematurely.
All states require children to get certain vaccinations to
enroll in school. California is among 20 states that let parents opt out by
obtaining personal belief waivers. Some people worry that vaccines cause
developmental problems, despite scientific evidence disproving any link. Others
object for religious or philosophical reasons.
Nationally, childhood measles vaccination rates have held
steady for years at above 90 percent. But there seem to be growing pockets of
unvaccinated people in scattered communities, said Dr. Gregory Wallace of the CDC.
In recent years, nearly all U.S. measles cases have been
linked to travelers who caught the virus abroad and spread it in this country
among unvaccinated people.
Northern California's Marin County has a high rate of people
claiming personal belief exemptions. In 2012, Dr. Nelson Branco and his partners
at a Marin County practice started turning away toddlers whose parents refused
to make sure they received the measles vaccine.
Branco said 10 to 20 of his practice's 8,000 or so patients
left after the change.
Vaccines "can be spooky for parents," Branco said.
But "in the end, we have the science. We have the experience that it's the
right thing to do."
merckvaccines.com
About M-M-R®II
M-M-R®II is indicated for simultaneous
vaccination against measles, mumps, and rubella in individuals 12 months of age or older.
Measles Vaccine
Eric H. Holder Jr.’s
client was Merck, a board member for
the American Constitution Society,
an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, and is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.
Note: Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was a member of the Democracy Alliance, a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, and the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, the Harlem Children's Zone, the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and the Committee
for Economic Development.
Ted
J. Trimpa was a director at the Democracy
Alliance, is a trustee at the Third
Way, and the founder of the Trimpa
Group.
Ronald A. Klain
is a trustee at the Third Way, and the
coordinator of government Ebola
efforts for the Barack Obama
administration.
Trimpa
Group is the lobby firm for Autism
Speaks.
Michael R.
Bloomberg was a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone, and is the founder of the Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Bloomberg
Family Foundation was a funder for the CDC
Foundation.
CDC Foundation
is a foundation for the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Anne
M. Tatlock is a director at the Bloomberg
Family Foundation, and was a director at Merck.
Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP was the lobby firm for Merck, the Walt Disney Company, and is the lobby firm for the Boeing Company.
Sheryl K. Sandberg
is a director at the Walt Disney Company,
the COO & director for Facebook,
and was a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
Vernon E. Jordan
Jr. is a senior counsel for Akin,
Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP,
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a senior
director at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, a director at the American Friends of Bilderberg
(think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
W. James
McNerney Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, the chairman for the President's
Export Council, and the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company.
Kenneth C.
Frazier is a member of the President's
Export Council, and the chairman & president & CEO for Merck.
Robert
A. Iger is a member of the President's
Export Council, and the chairman & CEO for the Walt Disney Company.
Barbara G. Fast
was a VP at the Boeing Company, and
a VP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI Group Inc.
was the Obamacare contractor that
developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Barack
Obama’s signature policy initiative is Obamacare,
and Madelyn Payne Dunham was his
maternal grandmother.
Madelyn Payne
Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal
grandmother, and an aircraft inspector for the Boeing Company.
Donna
S. Morea was the EVP for the CGI
Group Inc., and a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Raymond V.
Gilmartin is a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, and was the president & CEO for Merck.
Patricia F. Russo
is a trustee at the Committee for
Economic Development, and a director at Merck.
James
S. Turley is a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, and was a member of the President's Export Council.
Robert
A. Iger is a member of the President's
Export Council, and the chairman & CEO for the Walt Disney Company.
Kenneth C.
Frazier is a member of the President's
Export Council, and the chairman & president & CEO for Merck.
Merck Accused of Lying about
Vaccine Effectiveness
July 10, 2012
By Dr.
Mercola
Things aren't going so well
lately in the litigation department for Merck, which stands accused of lying
according to not just one, but two class-action lawsuits.
In the first case, two former
Merck virologists accuse their former employer of overstating the effectiveness
of the mumps vaccine in Merck's combination MMR shot, which may have cost the
US government hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decadei.
Merck's mumps vaccine was
originally licensed 45 years ago. Since the 1970s, it's been part of the
trivalent measles, mumps and
rubella (MMR) vaccine,
which is part of the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. The case,
which was initially filed in 2010, was unsealed late last month. As reported by
the Courthouse News Serviceii:
"... Stephen Krahling
and Joan Wlochowski were Merck virologists who claim in their unsealed
complaint that they "witnessed firsthand the improper testing and data
falsification in which Merck engaged to artificially inflate the vaccine's
efficacy findings."
... As the largest single
purchaser of childhood vaccines (accounting for more than 50 percent of all
vaccine purchases), the United States is by far the largest financial victim of
Merck's fraud," according to the 2010 False Claims Act complaint."
Eric H. Holder Jr.’s
client was Merck, a board member for
the American Constitution Society,
an intern at the NAACP Legal Defense
& Educational Fund, and is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.
No comments:
Post a Comment