If You Don't Want The MMR We'll Force You

One little boy who will never be getting his MMR

Tough sanctions are being proposed for parents who refuse routine vaccinations, such as MMR.

In an article for the Fabian Society, leading public health expert Sir Sandy Macara called for child benefit to be linked with vaccination uptake.

And Labour MP Mary Creagh said children should have to prove they are vaccinated before they start school to improve uptake of MMR.

The Department of Health said vaccination was voluntary.

Public confidence in vaccination, and in MMR particularly, fell after research raised the possibility that the jab may be linked to an increased risk of autism.

The research has since been debunked, and a string of studies have concluded that the triple vaccine - which protects against rubella and mumps as well as measles - is perfectly safe.

But immunisation rates are still well below the 95% needed for herd immunity and are particularly low in London.

As a result there have been several outbreaks of measles.

'Blasé'

Sir Sandy Macara, ex-chairman of the British Medical Association, said in many developing countries immunisation rates were higher than in the UK even though they had poorer access to healthcare.

"People here have become a bit blasé and they worry more about rare possible risks of vaccination rather than the diseases they prevent.

"One ought to recognise that mothers have a responsibility for ensuring their children are protected."

He said linking vaccination to child benefit would ensure full vaccine coverage and make the argument that it was being done for the public good rather than for the benefit of individuals.

"Politicians are much more anxious than they would admit about 'nanny state' accusations but they should be more worried about being accused of negligence," he said.

Ms Creagh said proof of vaccination before school attendance had been used in the US.

"The MMR vaccination rate is at 85% and the target figure is 95% so it's about catching children who may have moved or lost contact with their health visitor but also saying to parents your child has a right to live free from vaccine preventable diseases."

She said there would be exceptions where children could not be vaccinated for medical or religious reasons.

"In lots of cities now they are offering catch up MMR for five-year olds and there's a high take-up - a lot of anxiety has gone away and it offers parents another opportunity."

But Jackie Fletcher of pressure group Jabs was against both proposals.

"It's only six months since a big public consultation by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics which we contributed to and they concluded there was no reason to change the voluntary system.

"At the same time as this was published in the UK there was a huge furore in the US as parents were threatened with hefty fines and jail unless they vaccinated their children before entry into school.

"Is this really the direction we want to go in," she said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said they wanted to see a continued improvement in the uptake of the MMR vaccine.

"Vaccination in this country is voluntary.

"PCTs need to identify what approaches will work best to meet the need of their communities in order to ensure that all children and at-risk groups can benefit from vaccines."

VAN UK's comment: The benefit from vaccines has never been proven, is highly subjective and medical literature over the past couple of hundred years shows that vaccines can cause an array of complications, even resulting in death, particularly for children who are immuno-compromised (see CDC vaccine damage pictures). While this is the case, no one should ever be compelled to have a vaccine, particularly not for the benefit of someone else.

Vaccines Given Without Parent's Consent

12-year-old Christian is an active kid. A CMS student. And a boy scout. It's his scouting that made mom Tina Smith-Johns want to get him vaccinated against tetanus. So last Friday, they went to the Charlotte Pediatric Clinic in Pineville, part of Carolinas Medical Center.
Tina stayed in the waiting room with two younger children while Christian went back to get his single dose tetanus shot. Tina says, "Moments later, a nurse walks out and hands me a piece of paper and asks me to sign here, here, here and here, four areas."

Christian got more than the tetanus shot Tina requested: he got a vaccine for chicken pox. He got a vaccine for hepatitis-a. And he got a vaccine to prevent diseases like meningitis. Tina says, "I was devastated. I was devastated, we practice delaying vaccinations, we are very selective about the ones we choose."

Scott White, a spokesman for Carolinas Medical Center, says, "The mom definitely wanted her child to receive a single dose vaccine and unfortunately a four dose vaccine was given in error." White admits: the clinic violated its own policy of written consent before vaccination. White says, "We apologize for the error. We regret it. The clinical staff's been given a review of the policy that a consent form must be signed before vaccine is administered."

FOX Charlotte also uncovered a federal law that may have been violated: the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. It requires all health-care providers in the United States to give parents or legal guardians a "Vaccine Information Statement" before administering each dose of vaccine. CMC confirms it did not provide the statements to Tina during Christian's visit to the clinic on Friday.
Meanwhile, Tina has kept a close eye on Christian and has noticed no adverse reaction to the four vaccines he received. She says she appreciates the apology from CMC, but isn't sure if that's enough.
Tina says, "What just happened was they violated our rights. His rights as a patient, my rights as his mom."

CMC will not comment on any possible disciplinary action with any of the clinic's employees, citing personnel privacy. Tina tells FOX Charlotte that she has filed a complaint with the North Carolina Medical Board. Its investigation could last six months.

Source: My Fox, Charlotte, 25 February 2009.

VAN UK'S Comment: I don't think it was an error. I have heard this scenario many times from mums who phone my helpline. Nurses are trained medical professionals, they know full well what is a single tetanus vaccine and what isn't.

Sometimes if consent has been withheld or the parent does selective vaccination, they will 'accidently' give other vaccines because they don't agree. I have heard it done too many times to be a coincidence.

They don't 'accidently' mix up blood transfusions or other drugs in the same way, or they would lose their medical licence.

Doctor Gave Child MMR Even When Mother Said No

YOU'RE torturing your daughter," repeated my then 1-year-old's rigid pediatrician matter of factly. Suddenly, a terrible churning in my chest sent my heart racing as frustration steamed out my flaming eyeballs in the form of tears.

I had been bullied by this pediatrician at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Valencia for a solid year because I made an educated, well-researched decision to stagger my infant daughter's vaccination schedule. The apparent definition of torture was giving my daughter fewer shots more often, rather than more shots all at once.

A heated discussion ensued until an agreement was reached. There would be no MMR combination shot (which includes the measles, mumps and Rubella vaccines all in one); just a mumps vaccine on this visit - the others would come later, or so I thought.

I was notified afterward that my daughter was, in fact, given the MMR vaccine anyway, without my knowledge or consent, leaving me feeling helpless, betrayed and intensely - parentally - angry.

All infants are to be given 14 vaccines in multiple doses from birth through 12 months, according to the Center for Disease Control's Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule and the American Academy of Pediatrics. That is a total of 26 shots in the first year of a fragile, developing baby's body, with eight vaccines at a time given to a 2-month-old and seven at a time to a 4-month-old.

I'm just a parent who takes her child's development seriously enough to learn that ingredients in vaccines include fetal cow blood, monkey kidney cells, chicken embryo proteins, human blood proteins (including human DNA), formaldehyde, aluminum and the live virus itself. I can't give my child milk or honey until she's 1, but I can give her all this from birth?

While I ultimately chose to get all the recommended vaccines, my goal with a staggered schedule was to reduce the amount of toxins in my baby's body at a given time, ensure her exposure to live viruses was one at a time, and more easily trace any sources of side effects she may exhibit with only two vaccines to investigate, rather than eight.

Torture? Maybe for doctors who've got better things to do than their job.

Source: Los Angeles Daily News, 6th September 2009.

Swine Flu Vaccine Without Consent - Cases

In a minor setback for New York City’s effort to vaccinate schoolchildren against swine flu, two students were inadvertently vaccinated without the consent of their parents, city health officials said Thursday.

The children suffered no adverse effects from the vaccinations and were expected to be fine, but the misstep raised questions about the way in which the program is being carried out. Health officials said they had started an inquiry.

“We are working to determine how this occurred, and to implement additional safeguards,” said Jessica L. Scaperotti, a spokeswoman for the city’s health department.

As part of the program, which started this week, children are taken to the schools nurse’s office and administered the vaccine. The nurses are supposed to follow a protocol that involves reviewing each child’s health records and determining whether the child has parental consent before they vaccinate.

Health officials said it was not clear what had happened in the case of the two children, both of whom are in elementary school. One attends Public School 335 in Brooklyn, and the other P.S. 65 on Staten Island.

Ms. Scaperotti said nurses and other school workers would be given additional training in how to handle the vaccination program.

Source: Go Upstate.com, 30 October 2009.

6 Year old Given H1N1 Vaccine Without Consent And Ends up in Hospital

Now it turns out that one of the public school students given the swine flu vaccine without parental consent had to go to the emergency room after getting sick. Six-year-old Nikiyah Torres, who suffers from epilepsy (her parents had been waiting to see what their family doctor said about the swine flu vaccine) told WCBS 2, "He just gave me the needle, without asking me what is my name."

The little girl told the Daily News, "My stomach was hurting, and I was itching," and was taken to the hospital from her school, PS 335 in Brooklyn. According to the News, "When the nurse called for a student Thursday morning, Nikiyah's teacher misunderstood and sent the wrong student, [NIkyah's mother Naomi] Troy said. The error was compounded when the nurse didn't check Nikiyah's name before sticking her in the shoulder."

When the nurse realized what happened, the school called Troy to appear—and the nurse asked her to sign the consent form even though the shot was already given to her daughter. Troy fumed to WCBS 2, "He knew he was in big trouble and he wanted to cover himself."

The News also reports that a third child was given the swine flu vaccine without consent, prompting the nurses' union to say "I told you so" because it had warned about problems with making school nurses responsible for this: "We don't like it when we're right, because usually when we're right someone does get hurt somewhere along the way."

Now it turns out that one of the public school students given the swine flu vaccine without parental consent had to go to the emergency room after getting sick. Six-year-old Nikiyah Torres, who suffers from epilepsy (her parents had been waiting to see what their family doctor said about the swine flu vaccine) told WCBS 2, "He just gave me the needle, without asking me what is my name."

The little girl told the Daily News, "My stomach was hurting, and I was itching," and was taken to the hospital from her school, PS 335 in Brooklyn. According to the News, "When the nurse called for a student Thursday morning, Nikiyah's teacher misunderstood and sent the wrong student, [NIkyah's mother Naomi] Troy said. The error was compounded when the nurse didn't check Nikiyah's name before sticking her in the shoulder."

When the nurse realized what happened, the school called Troy to appear—and the nurse asked her to sign the consent form even though the shot was already given to her daughter. Troy fumed to WCBS 2, "He knew he was in big trouble and he wanted to cover himself."

The News also reports that a third child was given the swine flu vaccine without consent, prompting the nurses' union to say "I told you so" because it had warned about problems with making school nurses responsible for this: "We don't like it when we're right, because usually when we're right someone does get hurt somewhere along the way."

Source: Gothamist, 31 October 2009.

Nurse Refuses Consent For Her Son To Be Vaccinated And He is Given the Shot Anyway

A boy in Ohio has received the swine flu vaccine despite the fact that his mother clearly refused consent for her child to be inoculated, in another example of how health authorities are blatantly disregarding the wishes of parents in the pursuit of a mass vaccination mandate.

“Kim Lutheran works as a nurse and says her son, Matthew, has had bad reactions to medicine. So, she says she signed for “no consent” on a vaccination form and then circled her intentions with a black marker to make things clear to the boy’s public school in the Toledo suburb of Oregon,” reports the Associated Press.

Despite her clear refusal to give consent, the boy was given the H1N1 shot on Monday. Lutheran is now demanding that the local health department be held accountable.

The mother had followed the correct procedure in filling in the form because parents were still required to return it even if they were notifying the school of their refusal to give consent. The fact that she so clearly indicated that her son was not to receive the vaccine suggests that health authorities flagrantly ignored her request and inoculated the boy anyway.

This is not the first time that a child has received the swine flu shot against their wishes of their parents and it’s unlikely to be the last.

A 7-year-old boy in Montgomery County was given the nasal spray version of the H1N1 vaccine last week despite his father’s objections that his son should be exempted because of underlying health problems.

Matthew Angel called the nurses’ station at Camargo Elementary School to ask why his son Jacob Wages was given the vaccine. They told him they had mistaken the boy with another child. An investigation is currently underway to discover exactly what happened.

“A little cold can lead to a big thing for him, if he runs a temperature it’s not a hundred point one, it’s a hundred and five,” said Angel, who fears his son’s health is now at risk.

Angel has every right to worry – the nasal spray version of the H1N1 vaccine contains live swine flu virus and doctors and hospitals are expressing concern that the FluMist vaccine could endanger people, with children the most vulnerable. With no less than 60 per cent of the U.S. population immunodeficient in one way or another, the nasal spray could actually make the swine flu pandemic worse, health experts have warned. A number of hospitals across the country have refused to administer the spray form of the vaccine because of these concerns.

Source: The Survival Station, 29 October 2009.

Boy is Held Down By Police And Force Vaccinated

It took the strength of two sheriff's deputies to keep a middle schooler still enough to receive a shot of the swine flu, or H1N1, vaccine at a recent clinic.

During a regular Wheeling-Ohio County Health Board meeting Tuesday, health department Administrator Howard Gamble told board members about the student's attempt to flee Wheeling Middle School during a vaccination clinic held there last Friday.

He noted the boy's mother could not bear to watch the scene and left the gymnasium. Out of apparent fear of receiving the injection, the student ran out of the building. The school's resource officer, Ohio County Sheriff's Deputy John Haglock, coaxed the boy back inside. Once at the shot station, however, Haglock apparently needed some help keeping the boy still, and another deputy assisted.

"He tried to run. I looked over and saw two sheriff's deputies holding a kid down," Gamble said. "Mom took off, she couldn't take it. You had one nurse with the needle, two deputies holding him, one nurse is grabbing hands - because that's what they want to do, to go after the needle. And that's the last thing you want."

Gamble said as soon as the nurse gave the boy his injection and told him he was done, he hopped up like nothing had happened.

"For the most part they go very easy. As far as the shots, every once in awhile you have to hold down one or two - but that's why mom is there or dad is there," Gamble said.

He added after the meeting that Friday's incident was the only time Ohio County deputies have held a student during a shot.

"They're mostly there for parking and directions. They also know the kids. ... They were our first line of contact when setting up the clinics," Gamble said.

Neither Sheriff Pat Butler nor Haglock could be reached for comment. A sheriff's department official said Haglock is on vacation for the next two weeks.

Source: http://www.theintelligencer.net/page/content.detail/id/530805.html?nav=515