Pediatric Intern trying to Scare my DS (Rant)

[terran631]

So, Ds (12) hasn't been to see his pediatrician in like three years. The pediatrician was always nice to us about our choice not to vaccinate and we've gotten along rather well.  Anyway, DS needed  a physical in order to participate in a sport activity, so we made an appointment to see his pediatrician.  There was no way I could take him because of my work schedule, so I had his father (my ex) take him.  My ex and I do not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but when it comes to vaccinations, we've done the research and have pretty much made our decision. Either way, I reminded ex that they will probably offer the flu shot and the Tdap, and please say no to both of them.  He's like "I know i know. Don't worry."

Anyway, so after the appointment, I talked to my ex and he said they tried to talk him into the vaccines and he turned them down.  BUT, they started talking about the menengicocal (i know I spelled that wrong) vaccine and how ds HAD to have it.  Ex husband said no thank you, we don't give vaccines because of the risk of reaction. (Ds had a reaction to the MMR when he was a baby which made us stop all vaccines).  The pediatrician gave my ex some info on how vaccine reactions are rare and are worth the immunity they provide. The pediatric intern (not the pediatrician) started telling DS and his dad all of these horror stories about how if you don't get vaccinated and you catch this disease, you have "only minutes to live." "Not days, not hours, but MINUTES." 

DS came home very anxious about the whole thing. He said it's not like getting chicken pox (which he's had) and mumps (which they've had), THIS thing can KILL you.  I felt so bad for him because he was so scared.  We talked a lot of vaccinations and how they bypass the body's natural immune barriers and even people who are vaccinated catch the diseases they're trying to prevent.  He seems ok about it now but I was LIVID. I called the pediatrician and withdrew both of my children from their patient list. I told them that they should be ashamed of themselves for using scare tactics against a child.

[mamaofthree]

oh that is terrible your poor son. i mean really, he can't give consent anyway. sheesh.

h

[Smokering]

Yikes. Also.... minutes to live? With meningococcal?

[ma2two]

Good for you for calling about it and firing the pediatrician.  I hope you spoke with the pediatrician directly, or at least they gave him the message.

[Arduinna]

Wow. I'm so sorry your ds was put through that. Good for you for calling them on it and removing your kids from their care. That was completely unprofessional of them.

[mattemma04]

Glad to read you pulled them.

Sad thing is you can die from just about anything if the situation is right,but no one should ever use that to scare a child. I hope you will be able to work through this with ds.Knowledge about the disease and symptoms goes a long way to lessening the fears.

The other day dd (11) was talking about her fear of shots(never had a vaccine),and then reminded me that I told her vaccines can injure and even kill some kids.So it was time for a talk about vaccines again,and how not everyone is harmed by them(seemingly). In the future I hope she will not be scared into getting every vaccine under the sun.They will get a lot of pressure as young adults on their own. I had friends who just did the vaccines(as adults) because not doing tem was to much of a hassle.

[bbrandonsmom]

 Wow.  According to the CDC, it's only recommended for "high risk" groups-http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/recs/schedules/downloads/child/2010/10_0-6yrs-schedule-bw.pdf, so you can ponder that one.

  Here are the 2 vaccines available-note, the one recommended for kids is only 5 years old-so where are the long term safety studies? (this info from webmd)

"There are two kinds of meningococcal vaccine in the U.S.:

- Meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MCV4) was licensed in 2005. It is the preferred vaccine for people 2 through 55 years of age.

- Meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (MPSV4) has been available since the 1970s. It may be used if MCV4 is not available, and is the only meningococcal vaccine licensed for people older than 55."

  Here is a bunch of info on meningococcal, including links to the CDC pink book info on it. 

http://insidevaccines.com/wordpress/meningococcal/

Here is the insert https://www.vaccineshoppe.com/image.cfm?pi=589-05&image_type=product_pdf

  Interesting is the warning section- pg 6- make sure to read that. 

 I'd start digging up everything on meninococcal that you can, both pro/against and make a decision then.

[jimblejamble]

Minutes? Can you report this person?

[KBG8]

Originally Posted by bbrandonsmom 

Here is the insert https://www.vaccineshoppe.com/image.cfm?pi=589-05&image_type=product_pdf

  Interesting is the warning section- pg 6- make sure to read that. 

Can you post the interesting warning???  For some reason my PC wont let me view it