AL.comWith California gripped by a measles outbreak, Dr. Charles Goodman posted a clear notice on his door 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 threat will lead parents to change their minds or, if that fails, will at least reduce the risk to other children in the office.
The strategy — which comes amid the nation’s second-biggest measles outbreak in at least 15 years, with 95 cases or more since last month, most of them traced directly or indirectly to Disneyland in Southern California — raises questions about doctors’ ethical responsibilities.
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 99 percent effective at preventing measles, which 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 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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 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.”
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/01/some_doctors_firing_patients_w.html
Not very smart “Documentors” if you ask me. I’ll take a healer any day. Also why do the Wedding Cake Makers have to make a Cake for Gays but these “Gods of Healing” can pick and choose who to “treat”. I personally would love to take one of these nitwits behind the barn for a good ass beating.
The thing is, we don’t really know how the Disneyland Outbreak started. And I have not come across any info on who are the people being infected, what age they are, and whether or not they have been vaccinated. The MMR first dose is recommended between the ages of 12-15 months. So presumably anyone younger than that would be unvaccinated. In other words, when we are talking “unvaccinated” people spreading this disease, are we referring to people under 12-15 months of age (or what % are in this group), or are we referring to older children whose parents don’t have them vaccinated. And are we referring to people from other countries bringing diseases here, or to Americans who visit abroad and return infected? Or what? Again, I’d like more meaningful details. As well as how many vaccinated people (%) are catching measles in this outbreak.
how do un- vaccinated kids put vaccinated kids at risk? answer me that?
if your vaccine is SO DAM GOOD then there would be no threat to them from an un-vaccinated person
common sense SUX with these people, If one of my doctors or my kids DR. came up with this shit I’d fire them
fine if you want to lose money, thats your own stupidity , i dont have to play along, there are a shit ton of doctors out there glad to take my insurance money and my co-pays etc
Good point!
It is also a tragic shame that we as a people have largely forgotten how to heal ourselves and family members from diseases such as measles. In fact, many doctors don’t even know what to do or how to advise us, due to their lack of being trained. Many don’t even recognize the symptoms. Well, the info on how to diagnose and treat measles herbally and nutritionally is available on the internet. Read up on it and be prepared, for this and other diseases you or family members may face. Part of taking responsibility for your own health also includes knowledge of how to keep from spreading the illness to others. Isolate yourself until you are better. Doctors’ offices and hospitals are crawling with germs. But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep your body nourished and clean and your immune system strong, and chances are you won’t catch these illnesses or if you do, they will be mild. Bottom line: don’t outsource your healthcare and wellbeing to a “system.” Do it yourself.
Think about it, one single complaint against a “Dr” can and will ruin him. So who are all these Doctors sticking their necks out for the CDC? The only vaccinated people who worry about the unvaccinated are on the tv show the “View” where whoopies adam’s apple keeps showing what he really is.