Joy Short-Erb said she’s outraged that California’s state legislators would bully doctors who are serving their patients by protecting the medically fragile and those that have reactions to vaccinations.
Short-Erb is responding to a pair of bills Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Sept. 9 that would create oversight of medical exemptions for vaccines required by schools and day care centers throughout the state.
Senate Bill 276 and Senate Bill 714 were created to crack down on doctors who write faulty medical exemptions for children—an uptick in problematic medical exemptions was discovered by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2018.
Under the new laws, the state will start collecting medical exemptions electronically by Jan. 1, 2021, and put them in a database created by the state Department of Public Health.
The department will begin reviewing the exemptions in 2020 if a school’s immunization rate falls below 95 percent, when a school fails to provide the department with its vaccination rates, or when a doctor writes more than five medical exemptions. Any exemption written by a doctor who has faced disciplinary action by the state medical board will be automatically invalidated.
Under SB 714, existing medical exemptions issued before Jan. 1, 2020, won’t be subject to the new restrictions until the child has to get a required vaccination to attend kindergarten or seventh grade, or to change schools.
Short-Erb told New Times that the laws restrict doctors from using their professional opinion to protect patients from extensive and repeated side effects that could be dangerous to the patient’s health.
“So, it’s unprecedented that the government would step in the middle of the doctor-patient relationship like that,” she said.
Short-Erb is a mother of four and said—without revealing her family medical history—her immediate family has experienced side effects from vaccines.
“As a group, we’ve had reactions that are listed in the insert. We’ve had seizures, excessive crying, joint pain directly after a shot was administered, asthma, eczema; we’ve had ticks, symptoms of neuroinflammation, chronic headaches, and food allergies,” Short-Erb said.
But she said she wouldn’t classify herself as an anti-vaxxer. Short-Erb was a mom who followed the recommended vaccination schedule, her children experienced side effects, and she chose not to continue.
Short-Erb said that next year when parents are required to submit their child’s medical records into the California Immunization Registry to qualify for a medical exemption, she won’t be participating.
“We will have to figure out how to homeschool, probably. It’s a total life-changer. I would say that I’m not a single mom. I do have a husband that works really hard so I could be able to homeschool. Many people can’t; it’s total discrimination,” she said.
San Luis Obispo County Health Officer Penny Borenstein said that if state health officials deny a child a medical exemption, “there is really no option for that child to attend a brick-and-mortar school.” The child would have to be homeschooled.
Currently, the county receives annual data regarding medical exemptions by school from the state Department of Public Health. The county doesn’t receive any information on the number of exemptions per physician.
Borenstein said the county health department is aware of one SLO County physician whom it believes would meet the criteria of writing more than five medical exemptions and having future medical exemptions reviewed by state health officials.
Along with insisting that the new medical exemption regulations will get in between the doctor-patient relationship and will scare doctors into writing fewer exemptions, anti-vaxxers and ex-vaxxers also say these laws will hinder school district funding.
There are fewer than 100 students in SLO County currently enrolled in school who have a medical exemption, Borenstein said, and only about 75 percent of those are in public schools.
“So I would imagine there’d be very little impact to any individual or district’s budget if some of those children were to be disallowed,” she said.
If a parent is worried that their child’s medical condition is not listed on the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines to qualify for an exemption, the California Health and Human Services Agency states that Senate Bill 276 and Senate Bill 714 don’t limit the types of medical conditions that would qualify.
Medical exemptions, according to Health and Human Services, can be granted for reasons outside the CDC’s and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and American Academy of Pediatrics’ guidelines, including family medical history, if they are consistent with the standard of medical care for that condition. Δ
Staff Writer Karen Garcia can be reached at kgarcia@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Sep 19-29, 2019.
This mom is unwilling to ask the doctor for a medical exemption, and instead will home school. Seems like an over-reaction.
SB276 will revoke valid medical exemptions. The CDC contraindications to vaccination don’t even include seizures or paralysis, some of the most serious side-effects listed on vaccine package inserts. That means that doctors wont be allowed to protect patients who have already had seizures after vaccines by exempting them from further vaccines.
In response to Ian Tanner… I can say Im lucky enough not to have children so currently this is not my problem, but I have friends in this situation. The problem come with the fact that doctors are refusing to give exemptions because if they write more than four they will be reviewed by the medical board now. Doctors are already refusing regardless of what reaction a child has had in the past. There is a video circulating of parents calling doctors asking for an appointment to get an exemption because their child has had an anaphylactic reaction (which should get an exemption) and office after office says no, we wont write it so dont come in. How does a parent deal with that?
Tina,
1. If a doctor writes more than 4 exemptions, it’s the exemptions that can be reviewed, not the doctor. Not all exemptions from a doctor that writes more than 4 must be reviewed, but if someone like a school nurse asks, they can be reviewed.
2. If the exemption is legit, the review should agree.
3. The existing medical exemptions that do come under review, can be revoked only if they are found faulty, the rest will remain.
These new rules are designed to combat doctors who were giving exemptions fraudulently, for money.
Ian Tanner – why spend so much time, effort and money making this law to just review doctors? The CA Medical Board already has the authority to do so. All exemptions will be found faulty if they do not conform to the very narrow requirements set in the bill – such as if someone almost died from a vaccine. And then they will only be exempt from that particular vaccine. This bill will harm medically fragile children and since neither the Pharmaceutical corps, the doctors, the Politicians or the State will be liable when a child is hurt, parents and kids are just SOL.
SB276 will revoke valid medical exemptions. The CDC contraindications to vaccination don’t even include seizures or paralysis, some of the most serious side-effects listed on vaccine package inserts. That means that doctors wont be allowed to protect patients who have already had seizures after vaccines by exempting them from further vaccines. The standard of care wont protect these cases.
Ian – I am not sure its your place to judge whether or not this mother is overreacting. I think its fair to assume that she knows her kids better and cares about them more than you do. Maybe now is a good time for you to start minding your own business.
Nicole,
Why spend the effort? Oh, you know, to save lives. They spent the time and effort because they want to help the kids who are actually unable to get vaccines. Remember the whole “herd immunity” thing. Second, this bill is aimed at the exemptions, not the doctors. This bill is designed to give the people in charge of public health a seat at the table. Public health officials, like school nurses, now have a mechanism to question exemptions. Where before, it was solely between the doctor and patient, but that trust was broken, when some unscrupulous doctors started giving exemptions for money. And if you think that any doctor is not liable for prescribing medicine that can harm you, you must have forgotten about the $4 billion medical malpractice industry.
Julie,
Seriously? It’s in the news paper. Sorry I overstepped by commenting, here in the comment section. Furthermore, I did not comment on the children’s medical care. Only that when she’s saying that she is unwilling to even request an exemption from the doctor, and instead will go straight to pulling her kids out of public school, that is over-reacting.
Ian,
So glad you brought up the $4 billion medical malpractice industry because it is so important to understand that It is completely irrelevant when talking about childhood vaccines as doctors can not be sued for giving vaccines that harm people. Likewise, for profit Pharmaceutical companies who make the childhood vaccines can also not be sued for harm or death caused by these products. So now we have a situation where govt is mandating drugs manufactured and sold by convicted felons (ie Merck, Glaxo Smith..) that have no liability and no accountability for safety. Children and families shoulder all of the risk yet are being denied choice and informed consent.
I cant believe this passed. Such a sad and disappointing time for California. Being forced into a medical procedure repeatedly that is potentially dangerous made from a liability free product is NOT OKAY! This decision is an informed decision between a patient and their doctor!
Ian… do you know this mom? I dont think so. To say shes overreacting is ridiculous. You have no idea if her kids are hurt by vaccinations. Her compassion is for a reason. This isnt about parents for or against. Its about doing the right thing. Having medical freedom and for actual parents who have kids that have been hurt by vaccinations. Your kinda missing the idea and sound like an idiot.
Some things need to be clarified.
1. This bill doesn’t eliminate medical exemptions. It’s to prevent unethical doctors from writing bogus exemptions. If doctors believe these children should not be vaccinated, then they’ll write an exemption.
2. The vaccine inserts are legal documents. All are available online. Any reader should be very careful not to confuse vaccine reactions with “adverse events”, which often list things that were observed during clinical trials but are unrelated to vaccination.
3. The opposition to sb276 was organized by dishonest anti-vaccine activists, including professional fraudsters and scam artists. Anyone who supports known frauds like the producers “vaxxed” shouldn’t pretend they aren’t anti-vaccine.
I find it interesting that the article states there are only 75 children in our county with medical exemptions, out of how many students? I find it hard to believe that our local drs are jeopardizing investigations by the medical board (who can fine them regardless of whether or not they find any wrong doing, which then increases their malpractice insurance, resulting in loss of insurance contracts), to write fraudulent exemptions for profit? How much money would they have to be charging for these 75 fake exemptions in order to justify losing their practice? Every pharmaceutical has side effects. The Vaccine insert lists side effects that are recognized by the FDA. It should be a red flag that the CDC does not recognize contraindications listed by the FDA. Why do we as the readers, public health authorities, journalists, or the legislators for that matter, have the authority to say whether or not a child who has had some of those side effects should be forced to continue vaccinating in order to attend school? I think that should be a risk to benefit analysis that should be done on an individual case basis between the parents and the doctor.
Forcing anyone into a medical procedure that comes with risk is unacceptable. Forcing a medical procedure onto a child who has already been harmed by said procedure is inhumane. Pharma, government, and doctors are free of liability from vaccine injuries. The government has already spent $$$ and not found a single fraudulent exemption. Doctors will be unable to protect their patients from potential harm, even if they know that harm would be probable. Our rights to body autonomy and medical freedom are being stripped. Many parents will be faced with deciding between homeschooling, moving out of state, or playing Russian roulette with their childrens health and lives. The government overreach must stop!
Here are some truths. If you open your mind, and start thinking for yourself, you may be able to save your loved ones, because even if you don’t care that children can’t go to school unless they have all 74 shots required by the CDC (SB277), and not only will you not be able to use a personal belief or religious exemption, now children who are siblings of vaccine-injured children and children of parents who know that vaccines cause fatal and chronic adverse effects, will not be able to use their medical exemption (SB266/AB714). On top of that, the pharma-funded narrative that the brilliant and brave doctors writing these exemptions and recognizing the risk of vaccination (believe me, I know these doctors) will now be out of the picture. If they wrote the MEs before 2020 and have any disciplinary action against them (witch hunt by pharma), the MEs they wrote are VOID. Plus, they can’t write any more, and no other doctor will write one again after this law in fear of being investigated. Try calling your regular doctor for an ME. They’ll hang up on you or just say no, even if you had an adverse effect from your last vaccine. So it’s blackmail. Meanwhile, those with voided MEs no longer can go to school. But soon, like the Jewish communities in Bronx, New York, the children won’t be allowed in public places either. Sounds like Nazi, Germany, doesn’t it? Joy is a friend of mine, and so brave for speaking out and sharing her frustration, not just for the families who are struggling with these fascist laws, but she has been speaking to our lawmakers. (Rep. Cunningham voted against SB266/AB714 with the rest of the Republicans BTW, our Dem lawmakers are all bought). You think you are confused with these laws? You are not alone. The new law has very strict guidelines for MEs. I have one son (once perfectly healthy) who has chronic, life threatening seizures from his MMRV and DTaP (age 5 shots). This is documented and proven by mainstream doctors, yet every time he goes to the ER or to get treatment, the nurses still want to give him a flu shot! WTF? UCSF even offered him one while he was hooked up to IVIG and also when he was on steroid treatment! He is immune-compromised, and now he’s in special ed, which means he is automatically exempt from SB277. His brothers, who we no longer vaccinate, share the same gene mutation from the MMR. This was found when we went to get an ME from a doctor who is now being investigated for sticking up for my kids. Of course the law doesn’t recognize family history and gene mutations. Our MEs will be voided. If I were to vaccinate them so they could attend school (over my dead body), they could have seizures too, and because of the 1986 Vaccine Law, we can’t sue Pharma. Also, our medical records are no longer private. We would have to find another doctor to write another ME, and then a county health official, who is not our doctor, knowing nothing but what is written on the ME, will be deciding whether or not my children can go to school. Many people don’t understand that our children’s MEs are no longer good for life. They have expiration dates, checkpoints, and only apply to contraindications for specific vaccines: not all of them. So even if you swallowed all that BS about herd immunity, measles being deadly, and that vaccines are God’s divine apology for screwing up on making faulty immune systems, and that vaccines aren’t full of toxins: heavy metals, MSG, formaldehyde, human albumin, etc. you, your family, your friends, and every body in California will be forced vaccinated or quarantined in their own home. Soon. Healthy 2020. Look it up. Coming your way! If you don’t care about our kids, since we’re just a small minority “and probably won’t effect the money schools get in attendance” when we drop out and homeschool (or move), at least recognize that we have NO MEDICAL FREEDOM anymore. California and New York are the testing grounds for the rest of the states. The guidelines have been written by pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Sanofi (through contributions to Senator Pan) with the ultimate goal of having every single American Citizen (vulnerable to the toxic side effects or not) ‘up to date on their vaccines. Think about it. Are you, as an adult, up to date? How are you contributing to this idea of herd immunity? By next year Senator Pan wants every ADULT to be over-vaccinated as well. Another law that slipped through now allows the government to call any outbreak (be it the flu or the common cold) reason to come into our house and do whatever means necessary to control the outbreak. If that doesn’t wake people up, I don’t know what will.
The government has effectively said that a doctor can only diagnose 5 children as being too medically fragile to receive vaccines. (Being under review means that a doctor cannot continue to practice medicine) Limiting the amount of diagnosis a dr can make and limiting the protection a child can receive against further damage is such a travesty of body autonomy and human liberty I dont understand how people can look at this from a vax/ anti vax perspective. The government is mandating a medical procedure in order to for a person to receive not only public education but also food stamps and other benefits. A freedom loving, independence loving society should fight that kind of totalitarianism.