An irritating policy statement

[LisaSedai]

I was handed a "vaccine policy statement" at my Ped's office the other day. I just got finished googling "vaccine policy statement" and lo and behold, this appears:

http://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p2067.pdf

A fill-in-your own clinic's name here vaccinate your child or leave form suitable for framing. I found it on a bunch of clinic's websites so apparently it is spreading. Kinda like a virus.

I guess the doctors don't care for the AAP's suggestion that we misguided non/delayed/selective vax people not be "fired"

sigh

[laohaire]

Well, jeez, if only I knew they "firmly believed" in this stuff! I would have done everything differently! And here I was looking for EVIDENCE, when all this time I could have settled for "firm beliefs!"

[laohaire]

Furthermore, by not vaccinating your child you are taking selfish advantage
of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children, which
decreases the likelihood that your child will contract one of these diseases.
We feel such an attitude to be self-centered and unacceptable.

The above implies there is some risk to vaccines, right?

Ergh, I should never have even read the thing.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by laohaire

The above implies there is some risk to vaccines, right?

Ergh, I should never have even read the thing.

And then they follow with:

We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you or coerce you,
but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child.

Right. Not to scare you or coerce you. Just to guilt you into it by calling you selfish.

It's actually a good thing that pro-vax fanatics resort to guilt and fear. If they didn't, I probably would have vaxed my children with religious and unquestioning adherence to the CDC schedule.

[chaoticzenmom]

notice how they covered their arses by saying that they believe it to be...not that it is a fact.

[mom0810]

I got a certified letter from my ped (haven't opened it yet, it's still at the post office but I have the little card they left in my mailbox), and I was wracking my brain trying to think what it could be regarding... I am wondering if they are kicking me out because we don't vax.

I would be so sad if that were the case...

[angelpie545]

Funny, because this all goes against AAP recommendations for non-vaccinating parents. The last I heard, they recommended that doctors *not* drop non-vaccinating patients.

[neetling]

seems very bullying and antagonistic. We just went to a new ped and they did haveme sign a form. I read it and was comfortable with it. It was much less antagonistic and angry sounding as our last peds was. No stress or hassle at all. This kind of form would really upset me.

[fruitfulmomma]

If I was ever handed one of these, I'd fire myself from their practice.

[emma1325]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

If I was ever handed one of these, I'd fire myself from their practice.

Me too. I would never give business to such a non-professional, bullish business.

[Mrs.Floyd]

Wow. And I guess since they 'firmly believe' in the safety and efficacy of vaccines they they are probably 'firmly' downplaying and under-reporting any vax reactions happening to their patients. I also love that if you're not vaccinating, it must be b/c you're lazy.

As medical professions, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do for all children and young adults.

Also just love how they don't take into consideration the fact that people may be allergic to certain ingredients, or morally/religiously opposed to certain ingredients or manufacturing methods, or the fact that if a child has already had an adverse reaction to a vaccine that it could be horribly worse a second time.

This policy is much more ignorant than they believe delay/selective/non-vaxers to be.

[caro113]

sounds like the letter my friend got when she switched peds when they moved. This is wrong on so many levels. And people wonder why we don't have a ped for DD. Maybe it's bc not a single one will take us due to our non-vaccinating policy.

[Asiago]

I like how it villifies the 'internet'

parents who are hesitant to have their child vaccinated
because of scientifically invalid information they have encountered on
the Internet or through the news media.

As if government, university, medical journal websites all have erroneous information. Yes, the following government site of the vaccine injury compensation program must all be malarkey (!) ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensati...penDismiss.pdf

This data could not possibly be correct if it's on the internet. That awful internet, all lies, just lies poisoning parents minds How dare parents actually inform themselves.

Do they even know that JAMA and Lancet are available to people outside the medical profession (?) It makes one question how in touch with reality some medical organizations and some personnel are (not all though, some are encouraging and applaud parents who research).

[emma1325]

We need a letter drawn up for non or partial vaxing parents to bring in when they interview pediatricians. It should specify the family's firm position on vaccines, and indicate that any pediatrician/doctor of theirs will be respectful of their vaccine choices. If the pediatrician is acceptable, he/she will then be asked by the parents to sign the letter confirming that he/she will not harrass or belittle the family for their vaccine choices.

Let's turn this around and put this back into proper perspective. We pay these people to give us professional medical advice. We are the main authorities over our families' health - not the doctors.

[fruitfulmomma]

Let's turn this around and put this back into proper perspective. We pay these people to give us professional medical advice. We are the main authorities over our families' health - not the doctors.