California Vaccine Exemption Debate: ‘Children are Suffering’

Medical professionals and well being advocates involved about restoring stability to California’s medical exemption system attended a listening to this week to induce lawmakers to amend the state’s present regulation.

At a Senate Well being Committee assembly Wednesday, members heard testimony on a invoice that will replace California’s medical exemption coverage and let medically fragile youngsters attend faculties with out having to obtain vaccines.

“California’s youngsters are struggling proper now, and medically weak youngsters are being denied entry to training,” Amy Bohn, president of the civil rights group Perk Advocacy, instructed committee members.

SB 1377, launched this 12 months by Senate Minority Chief Brian W. Jones, R-San Diego, would repeal California’s regulation relating to medical exemptions to the statewide immunization mandate for college youngsters.

As a substitute, the laws would require physicians to make use of accepted requirements of care when deciding whether or not a medical exemption is suitable, and prohibit them from following the standards established by the California Division of Public Well being (CDPH).

It additionally would prohibit youngsters from being denied entry to training, faculties, or childcare services primarily based on their medical exemption standing, or being handled otherwise from different college students.

Dr. Richard Fox, a California-licensed doctor and pediatrician of 48 years, instructed the committee that many mother and father have a tough time getting youngsters the medical exemptions they want below present California regulation.

“Dad and mom generally contact me searching for medical exemptions. I uniformly decline as a result of I routinely see physicians lose their licenses,” Fox mentioned. “I received’t go anyplace close to such exemptions; the penalties for being fallacious are too extreme.”

“There are too many landmines and no secure harbors. Though California supplies for medical exemptions on paper, it doesn’t in actual life.”

Darrlene Alquiza, CEO of the civil rights group Knowledgeable Coverage Advocates, mentioned Jones’ invoice, if handed, would make necessary updates to California’s regulation on vaccines.

“[The bill will] replace vaccine mandate insurance policies in California to return doctor rights to grant medical exemptions to their sufferers, fairly than the present coverage of the Division of Public Well being overseeing and approving vaccine exemption requests,” she mentioned.

Alquiza additionally argued that the invoice is important to stop youngsters with present medical situations from being denied an training solely attributable to their vaccination standing. 

“The invoice additionally protects sufferers from discrimination, as we’re observing youngsters denied entry to high school, and hospitals turning them away from receiving their medical care,” she mentioned. “This invoice is a crucial first step to treatment overly strict vaccine mandate insurance policies in California.”

Jones assured committee members that SB 1377 “shouldn’t be an anti-vax invoice.”

“This invoice doesn’t name into query the efficacy of childhood immunizations. This invoice places docs again within the driver’s seat relating to look after our youngsters, the place they’ve at all times belonged,” he mentioned.

“We belief our docs. The first query this invoice poses is, will we belief our main care physicians or not.”

Regardless of these statements, when SB 1377 got here up for a vote, committee members voted 4-3 in opposition to it.

Opponents of the invoice, together with Dr. Dean Blumberg, a Sacramento pediatrician specializing in pediatric infectious illnesses, mentioned California’s present regulation doesn’t want altering.

“SB 1377 would get rid of the present oversight and enforcement mechanisms which might be working to make sure that medical exemptions are issued for true medical causes. Now shouldn’t be the time to get rid of the system that works and doesn’t want fixing,” Blumberg mentioned.

Regardless of the committee’s vote in opposition to the measure, Alquiza mentioned “it’s nonetheless essential that the invoice was launched as a result of it didn’t die with out having two Democrat co-authors signal on, which is an excellent signal for our motion.”