Monday, August 26, 2013

We Need a New Pediatrician

  We need a new pediatrician.
  The reason we need a new pediatrician is rather involved.  A while back, the pediatrician that our family has frequented for years came out with what was, in my opinion, a rather draconian and insulting policy regarding immunizations. The policy was simple; you will take the shots the CDC recommends, or we will not treat you.   The written policy went on to refer to the unimmunized as ‘selfish’.  Their policy is reproduced here.  When I read the policy I was incensed, and it lead to a number of family discussions. My wife wanted to stay with the doctor, and I did not.  My compromise was that we would stay with his office until we were forced to leave by this issue.
  Fast forward a few weeks and their office calls to tell me that my oldest needs to come in for his 11 year physical. I had never heard of such a thing, and the person on the phone was just a message service with no insight into such things.  I wanted to know what was driving this physical. My kids aren’t in government schools so I couldn’t imagine any reason that   pre-6th grade physical would be required. My wife called their office a time or two on my behalf and got no answer that would satisfy me.
  On the day of the appointment my wife called from the doctor’s office and told me that   part of the 11 year checkup was a series of immunizations.  One of the  immunizations was for HPV( Human papillomavirus vaccine), It's ’recommended’ by Big Pharma for both girls and boys to prevent genital warts and certain types of cancer. We had already declined this for my daughter before the new policy came out.  One of the shots was a Tdap booster (Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) booster.  The last on the list was the Meningococcal vaccine which supposedly prevents meningitis. She read them off to me and I made a command decision.   She was to instruct the doctor that my son would receive a tetanus booster and that was it. I hung up the phone and waited. I felt in my gut that this was going to be a day of confrontation.
  A few minutes later the phone rang and my wife told me that the pediatrician wanted to speak to me. His first question was whether or not I had actually done any research before I decided to risk my child’s health. I told him I didn’t think the risk was that high, and that injecting foreign substances into my child’s body wasn’t my idea of health care. He warned me of all the meningitis outbreaks that still happen in America and told me that I was putting my child in grave danger. He said, and I quote, “If he catches it, I don’t want to have to stand there in ICU and watch him die because he didn’t get this shot.”  Keeping in mind that meningitis is treatable with penicillin and that death from it usually only happens in a previously compromised immune system, the message was clear; take the shot or death may happen.
  I continued to decline the shots, and he asked me if I was aware of their office policy.  I told him I was and that I found their   low regard for parental choice very troubling. By now we’re both yelling at each other, which wasn’t the best way to handle it. He asked me if I understood that he could no longer treat our family unless we got these shots.  I made some comment about how much money his office makes off of immunizations. He told me he didn’t have time to argue with me, that we were done here.  He handed the phone back to my wife. I instructed her (still in a fairly harsh tone of voice unfortunately) to pack up our son and come home.
  Once I was off the phone, he began to work on my wife.  He apologized for getting so upset on the phone with me, and he wanted to give us some time to ‘think about’ it before we severed the doctor-patient relationship. He gave my wife the party line on vaccines in general, and somehow my upcoming mission trip to Haiti came up.  The idea was floated out there that I could bring back some plague from Haiti and infect our unvaxed kids.  Before she left, my wife had to sign a ‘Refusal to Vaccinate’ form that they would keep on file.  They also informed my wife that she would not be able to get our children’s medical records. Their policy is to release those records to our next doctor, not to us.
  A week went by and I was still trying to locate a doctor that honored our choices as parents when we received a letter in the mail officially severing the doctor-patient services unless we ‘comply’. Included was a revised version of their policy in which the word ‘selfish’ is replaced with a reference to ‘herd immunity’.
  My issue is simple; it’s my child, not theirs.  Maybe vaccines are good, maybe they’re bad. Maybe Wakefield was right and they attribute to allergies and autism, maybe they don’t.  Either way, I as a parent ought to be able to pick and choose what shots are given to my child, not the CDC.  In the pediatricians defense, they are a private practice and can do as they see fit, but I think it’s poor policy and a poor business decision to sever years of customer relations over the recommendations of Big Pharma and their lackeys in the government. I think it’s poor policy as a parent to blindly sign on to whatever injections the government dictates from on high
  So we have no pediatrician at the moment, and there is a certified letter waiting ominously for us  up at the post office from the pediatrician.  My concern is not that we won’t find another doctor, and my concern isn’t that my  son will catch meningitis. My concern at this point is that a visit from Child Protective Services comes out of all this.  Out of concern for the staff at this misguided doctor’s office, I’ve not released the name of the office, but I suspect we have not heard the last from all this.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Instead of looking for an MD that will let you choose whether or not to vaccinate, look for an ND or DO that will let you choose.

DO's are more likely to allow for patient choice and more likely to treat in a holistic manner rather than just pushing drugs. They will often consider using cutting edge technology for diagnosis, the latest drugs, and will usually also use natural approaches if preferred by the patient.

ND's tend to reject drugs and vaccines in favor of herbs and nutrition, but are otherwise fairly equivalent to DO's in their approach. They usually try to treat the person as a whole and try to use the latest technology for diagnosis.

Naysayer said...

Don't you know doctors are always right? Even when they disagree.

Anonymous said...

Similar events occurred to us with our first-born, including the refuse-to-consent forms, the pressure on one of us when the other wasn't there, and finally the "we're firing you" letter in the mail (and yes - they wouldn't give us our records either... they had to be forwarded to a doctor). We had read that being fired might be a possibility, but you're still a little shocked when it happens - feeling guilty when you've done nothing wrong. One trip to a second doctor was lousy enough that my wife pleaded with me that we not go back. We finally found two allopathic doctors that let us make our own decisions (although one did feel the flu shot was worth discussing with us). We rarely use either one of them, instead going to a natural health chiropractor. We spend extra money on healthy food, and when our kids do get sick, it's not very often and not for long. So - hang in there! There are a number of websites that can help you locate natural practitioners in your area.

InalienableWrights said...

Since you can not sue for damages from a vaccine manufacturer, tell the doctor that if he signs an agreement of personal liability up to 5 million dollars,for any damages caused by the vaccine, then you will consider vaccinating your son. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Avoid contact with the modern health(death)care as much as possible. You don't need a new pediatrician. You need a new outlook. You need to understand how modern medicine harms patients a lot more than it helps.

Anonymous said...

Your wife should not have signed a ‘Refusal to Vaccinate’ form. In fact knowing the policy of the jerk you had for a pediatrician you should have just ignored all communications from him. He would have assumed you had another physician.

You are correct in fearing a visit from Child Protective Services. But had you handled it differently, you could have greatly minimized the conditions that would give you legitimate cause for such concerns. There is a time to be confrontational, and a time not to be. This was one of those times not to to be.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Here is some support for not vaccinating from an immunologist, Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dts3ebwWlo

She explains the limitations of the "herd immunity" theory. Some vaccinated children will still get the illnesses they are vaccinated against.

I heard this on The People's Pharmacy last week: in a roomful of 1000 people exposed to a flu virus, only 2-3 of them will get sick. The best way to avoid getting sick is to build natural health and disease resistance by getting enough vitamins--including A & D, zinc--sleep, sunshine, exercise, rest and stress reduction (says Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, The People's Pharmacy radio show on NPR, 8/17/13.).

People may wish to check with the National Vaccine Information Center for information regarding their individual states as to requirements, exemptions, legislative advocacy, etc. www.nvic.org.

I thought the "Vaccine Safety Manual, a Handbook for Concerned Parents and Health Professionals," by Neil Z. Miller was a good initial reference book. Dr. Russell Blaylock, neurologist, wrote the foreword explaining how vaccinations can damage the brain by causing brain inflammation. He has youtube videos up, too.

If Child Protective ever comes to anyone's house without a court order, you do not have to talk to them. Talk to your lawyer instead. Try to remain calm. You might record the encounter. (Remember Mary Ann Goldbono.) Child Protective workers "may" act beyond Constitutional limitations at times.

I also don't believe your doctor has the right to withhold your child's medical records from you (or your child, depending on your child's age). Check the laws in your state.

Don't let anyone intimidate you into vaccinating. If your child is injured by a vaccine your doctor injects, your doctor will not be legally liable for damages, nor will the vaccine manufacturer. Serious adverse events from vaccines may be rare, but they do occur. If I were doing this again, I'd get the lot numbers of the vaccines from my child's doctor, at the time of the visit. You will need it if you report the reaction to VAERS.

Doctors are not as concerned with your right to make informed consent as they used to be, though by law they are required to inform you of all risks and benefits of vaccines. Obviously, you still have a choice whether to vaccinate or not.

Also, when my young daughter came home to me with a bad, red and swollen, infected dog bite, the after-hours doctor said they did not give tetanus boosters for that sort of thing anymore. I don't know why.

Anonymous said...

Is this another brainwashed quack under 40? In my parenting experience of over twenty-three years now, the most trouble we've had with pushy or moronic doctors (other than military doctors, who are idiots of the lowest order, but that wasn't the subject today) has been when they are relatively young, have little experience outside of their internship, and have no children themselves.

But other posters are correct - depending on the state you live in, you could be in for a fight with the child-body snatchers from CPS.

Enquire about a lawyer - now.

Unknown said...

I agree with one of the anonymous comments above. You are seriously uninformed about the degenerative horrors of vaccines (that is, if you or your child don't die immediately upon being vaccinated). You should have stayed away from this office entirely and you should refuse ALL vaccines in the future. They are carcinogenic, toxic and based on fraudulent science.

Unknown said...

And, btw, you do NOT need another pediatrician. You need to remove yourself from the quackery of modern medicine which is nothing but sickness and death-facilitation.

Anonymous said...

A link from LR dot com by Dr. Ron Paul http://www.lewrockwell.com/2013/08/ron-paul/the-commie-doctor-wont-see-you-now/ just a little something to show that many are concerned about cronie-commie-health-care

Anonymous said...

Echo echo echo...

Michael S. Alford said...

Disagreements are fine, but I'm under no obligation to tolerate insults and profanity. I wouldn't tolerate it in person, especially from someone hiding behind 'anonymous'.

Anonymous said...

Release the name. Other parents in your area need to know before they use this practice, and you might well need the support from other families who have successfully navigated a run in with CPS.

Anonymous said...

hmmm.....no tetanus for a dog bite but they tried to tell me I needed a "booster" (I said no) from a clean cut, needed three stitches due to position from a knife with organic avocado....pick and choose who gets tetanus shots nowadays??????hmmmmmmm

Anonymous said...

If you need call a lawyer call the CLA. http://www.christianlaw.org/cla/

Anonymous said...

If you live in NE Ohio there is a doctor called Dr. Tenpenny. She is a child physician that does NOT believe in vaccines. She is educating her facebook followers of the dangers of these drugs, with the HPV being one of the worst. You may also want to contact the Christian Law Association. They should be able to help you find out your legal rights in this situation.

Anonymous said...

Michael... Here's an option. Go here and download the Vaccine responsibility letter: http://www.vaclib.org/legal/accept.htm

Make the doctor SIGN as taking responsibility for any damage. When they ask you why you're endangering your child or want you to sign a form stating you know the "RISKS", don't sign or agree. What you DO KNOW is the risks of the vaccines and you are trying to keep your child safe. They use the "knowing the risks" gig to be able to pull in CPS. Strike through any paperwork that has that language.

Anonymous said...

Use a family practice. They are far less anal about vax and far more sensible.

Dr Harte - Liberator of Innate said...

Modern pediatrics is THE most serious threat to the health of children... vaccinations, psychotropic drugs, endless antibiotics. Kids are sicker than ever. They actually think that health comes from the outside-in... from drugs-in. Chiropractic recognizes that health comes from Above-down, Inside-out. The same G-d-given Innate Intelligence that united sperm and egg to produce a perfectly formed baby in nine months, is still at work in your child. One simply has to correct interference to the expression of this perfection.

Anonymous said...

excellent idea!

This is a grand opportunity for the family to expand their options in healthcare for their growing family. May I suggest chiropractic, herbs, and acupuncture.

Anonymous said...

Yes, what happened to that family from last April in Sacramento? The CPS file is still open on them.

Anonymous said...

A couple of things to keep in mind...IF CPS shows up at your door (and in many cases, they do not deal with vaccination issues, it is not considered a big deal, but in some cases they do), ask them to show you the law that states you HAVE to vaccinate your children. It does not exist, in ANY state, and therefore you are breaking no laws, and they have no case. Ask them this on your front porch, do not let them into your house, under any circumstances.

Second, if you authorized a tetanus booster, you in fact authorized the Tdap. There is no longer "just" a tetanus shot - it's Tdap or nothing. But, do some research on tetanus - it is virtually impossible to contract if a wound is properly bled and cleaned. And, it is a bacteria anyway, and you cannot build an immunity to it even if you contract it, so it is pretty much pointless anyway. The vaccine doesn't work, and the changes of getting it are extremely low anyway. Best of luck to you and your family!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tanya said...

We use a family practice. They are much less intense about these issues. And when we are all sick, we can all go to one place. We still have access to an amazing children's hospital if we are in need of pediatric specialists.

Your medical records do not belong to the doctor, they belong to you. And HIPAA guidelines state they must release them to you. They may charge a fee, but they must release them.

http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/medicalrecords.html

If they refuse to comply, then you can file a HIPAA complaint.

Chu said...

Dr. Sears posted a list of Vaccine Friendly Doc near you. Meaning Docs that do not push you on Vaccines if you choose not to go that route: http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/vaccines/find-vaccine-friendly-doctor-near-you

Ginger Taylor said...

Canary Party VP and mother of a vaccine injured child, here.

In my opinion pediatrics has become lost. I encourage those re-evaluating their relationship with their pediatrician to keep in mind that there are many kinds of doctors, and that they can consider interviewing Family docs, GPs, Osteopaths, Naturopaths, Functional Medicine docs and a range of natural health practitioners who are far less aggressive with pharmaceuticals.

One of the best pieces of advice given to me when I was going through this process was to find someone who shared my values and my point of view on health care.

Clearly this doctor does not share your values.

When we give our money to docs like this, we help keep the system corrupted. Vote for good HEALERS with your dollars.

Anonymous said...

I would file a complaint against the doctor with the local medical board for his behavior. Especially depending on what the certified mail says.
It will help you if he did end up calling CPS.

Anonymous said...

I just ask that you make sure you read about the diseases, as well as the vaccines. I am very close to a family that had a teenager die of meningococcal meningitis. There are still approximately 1500 cases per year in the United States. 11% of those result in death. Many others have hearing loss and/or brain damage. 15% of the cases are teenagers. I guess seeing is believing. When it happens to someone you love, it makes you realize that no one is out of the diseases grasp.

Polly said...

I'd be writing former letters of complaint to the pediatricians office, the medical boards, the hospitals they do their surgeries in, the States Attorney Generals Office, the BBB, and anyone else I could come up with!

Absolutely NO ONE has the right to demand that you get a medical procedure for you or your child that you're uncomfortable with and that may pose additional medical issues down the line - and, yes, vaccines *are* a medical procedure!! They're not a "once-size-fits-all" solution. That's insane for them to imply that they are.

For the naysayers about vaccine ingredients not being a concern, below is the CDC's very own Vaccine Excipient & Media Summary. Please feel free to Google or PubMed any of the ingredients. You'll find formaldehyde is an ingredient in many of them. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. You'll find that thimerosal (aka mercury) is still in several of the vaccines listed and can affect the central nervous system and kidneys. Monosodium glutamate (aka MSG) is also in more than one vaccine - it's been known to cause migraines and serious weight gain in MSG sensitive people.

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf

Encepalopathy=Autism said...

The situation you described happened to our family about six years ago, when I declined to have our autistic, immune deficient child immunized along with our other children out of concern for vaccine injury. I was brutally verbally attacked at the pediatrician's office and told I was taking deadly risks with our kids. I left that office NEVER to return. I didn't even wait for the severence letter. I decided then and there to NEVER go to another general pediatrician again. Instead, we found a family GP, who is not constrained by the AAP dictates and only brings up the vaccines as a suggestion in his office. He respects our decision and never seems worried about our children's health. By the way, they have never caught anything more serious than a cold since we left the AAP pediatrician's office. Take heart, there are other medical options other than the AAP pediatrician.