Judith took the words right out of my mouth. I live in RI and just learned about exemption forms. My son regressed after the MMR vaccine. I no longer allow my children to get vaccinated. My children rarely see the pediatrician and are almost never sick. It was so difficult to get the forms because they can only be ordered by the school nurse and it took a while for RI Dept. of Health to send them. No other school in my town had any. And the nurse had never seen one. I guess we'll be the first.

This is why I have a family doctor, not a pediatrician, for my family. And he no longer gives childhood immunizations. He did vaccinate my ASD son, and I am not sure why he stopped vaccinations in his office. He knows that my daughter is completely free of vaccines. I said I was delaying...which is true...I'm delaying them until she is 18 and then she can make her own decision.
I recommend dropping any pediatrician who makes you sign forms, etc in regards to refusal of vaccines. And if you can't find a supportive pediatrician, find a family doctor. Mine is great, and he will sign orders on pretty much anything. He knows that I read and research, and he just asks for copies of the information/tests/progress notes from the other practitioners who treat my son.
It is interesting. I am also a pedi RN. People know that I am against vaccines. Before my son, I was really indifferent to vaccines. I had cared for children who were vaccine injured, and I did worry about them. I had parents tell me of their child's regression post vaccines, and I believed them, but I figured that they must have a family history involved, and that something like this could never happen to my child. Wrong!
I have told people that I don't vaccinate my children because of my son and they look at me in shock. Usually the first thing they ask is how my child is allowed into school/preschool. And that is when I inform them about exemption forms, which is always a HUGE shock to them as well!
I know most people I discuss this with won't research and find out for themselves how dangerous and useless vaccines are, but they can't say they weren't warned!

I'm new here, but Willoughby and his lovely wife are my two oldest and dearest friends. I love The Boy as though he were my very own poop painting ball of joy.

I was wondering if anyone else caught the following (emphasis my own):

"BEHAR: What do you, on that same subject, what do you think about this controversy that`s going around about vaccinations and ---> autism and other little things <--- that happens to kids?"

Did Joy Behar REALLY liken autism to a LITTLE thing? What the F*CK?

A broken arm is a little thing. (Can you tell I'm a dude?)

Autism does not equate to a broken arm.

M, you read this site more closely than my mother, I'm quite certain. The subtle point, which you are missing, is that Trine went after Dr. Oz for his "undermining" the vacine schedule, specifically Dr. Offit's pet shot. We have praised and cajoled and prodded Dr. Oz in the past.

Kim

Don't you guys remember a few months ago when you condemned Oz for the very same interview you're now praising him for? Jeez, it's not even my website and even I remember that.

I have been kicked out of 3 pediatricians offices in the past 5 years for refusing to vaccinate my already vaccine injured children. I guess 2 children with vaccine induced autism is just not enough for them. It kills me how those arrogant, pompus, AMA butt kissing doctors want you to sign a waiver stating you will NOT hold them responsible if your child is injured from vaccinations, but will kick you out if you refuse to vaccinate. Heres a novel idea: Let's start SUING THE DOCTOR and I bet those practices stop real fast!

For those of you who are interested, I live in Germany. We just took our 4 month old (no vaccines) to the doctor yesterday. It wasn't our normal doctor and he mentioned "You are behind in your shots". We said we were delaying them. He smiled, patted the baby on the head and said, "Well, I guess that's how it is then." and said nothing else. Our regular doctor said it was fine to delay but we should think of giving a few select shots to our 3 year old who is starting pre-school IF WE WANTED TO.

When I was in the hospital having the 4 month old it was the middle of swine flu hysteria. My OBGYN said not to get the shot plain and simple due to lack of research, so I asked the doctor at the hospital what she thought. She (someone who worked with newborns) said it was up to me but she didn't get it and plenty of her coworkers didn't have it either.

So things are different everywhere.

I thought it was too perfect a coincidence:
Dr. Oz calls rotavirus vax optional...
crusading Chicago Tribune reporter Trine Tsouderos sounds the alarm. And she even has a quote from RotaTeq doc Paul Offit: "Science is not a democracy where people's votes decide what is right, said infectious disease specialist Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 'Look at the data, look at science and make a decision based on science that has been published,' he said."

Offit slammed Oz saying, 'It shows you that he is a cardiologist and not an immunologist.'

Offit misses the point that he himself is not a toxicologist, yet he talks like he's an expert when he says the injecting mercury into babies won't hurt them.

I noticed that Dr. Sherri Tenpenny's book is mentioned,
"But it also recommends Saying No To Vaccines,by an activist who compares immunizations to playing with a loaded gun."

The "activist" isn't cited as a medical expert nor does her name appear.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Tenpenny/sherri19.htm

Obviously, Tsouderos and the Trib have their own agenda and it doesn't involve fair and balanced coverage of this issue.
Anne Dachel
Media

PhillyLisa: wow does your post rile me up! Did you really say your doc makes you sign a form saying you are endangering other children's lives for refusing the second dose of chicken pox vaccine? You know, does your doc make parents who get the chicken pox vaccine sign a form promising to keep their children away from immunocompromised children for 6 weeks or risk endangering their lives? Yes, the vaccine insert says keep away for 6 weeks because the varicella virus sheds for at least that long. I am so tired of the 'unvaccinated are dangerous' line when the vaccinated bring their own risks; viral shedding (flumist, varicella, shingles, measles, mumps, rubella, rotavirus) and carrying higher concentrations of more harmful virus and/or bacteria due to serotype replacement (Gardasil, Prevnar, etc) The dialog is woefully incomplete.

I find it interesting that prior to vaccination pediatricians give parents a waiver to sign that says essentially, "I understand that this rare side effect can happens (seizures, death, etc.) and I will not hold the doctor responsible". Then if the parent refuses to consent to the vaccination the child is kicked out of the practice. Medical Mafia strong-arming for sure.

Because of these medical mafia strong arm tactics, I know a growing number of parents who use the urgent treatment centers for emergencies and have their children go to Naturopaths for primary care. And you know what? They say their children have never been healthier.

I understand their situation (the docs) - they are afraid of getting in trouble if some gets a vaccine preventable disease. But the answer is not medical mafia tactics. The answer is not putting some children at risk because it is most expedient to your practice and professional reputation. The answer is not to ignore eye witness testimony from parents.

Perhaps a start is community forums between local pediatricians and concerned parents, where each can voice their concerns and be heard. Clearing the strategy of taking everything that is handed down from AAP in Chicago as gospel clearly is not working. Medicine is such a top down profession and believe me, it shows.

More toilet journalism from Latrine Tsouderos!

I have to take my daughter to the pediatrician next week. Since she's the only doctor we have who is in our insurance network, we need her to fill out a form to get our insurance to pay for some tests. In this practice, doctors aren't even allowed to fill out a form for camp if you're one day late for a "well visit." I know they she is going to insist on certain shots that are required for entering fifth grade. Of course I am going to refuse them. I'm hoping she'll still fill out the forms I need, especially when I'll refuse to sign the now-required form saying I am endangering the life of other children by refusing the vaccines. This happened to my friend when she refused a chicken pox booster for her son (same doctor). This is a pediatric practice that is affiliated with CHOP. I know it's time to go elsewhere, but we have always really liked this pediatrician despite the affiliation with CHOP. She has always made referrals and fought with my insurance company to get what my daughter needs. Many doctors won't do what she does, including the DAN doctors.

Hey Kim and AoA friends,

Completely off topic, but I wanted to share this with all of you as it is most assuredly in the awesome category.

Morgan's Wonderland has opened in San Antonio Texas.

http://www.morganswonderland.com/index.html

It's an amusement park created specifically for Special Needs children and their families. Special needs kids get in free, and caregivers and family members get in for $5 a piece.

I'm lucky to have a ped who is tolerant of our family's decision to spread out and delay vaccinations for our second son. We had to leave our first ped, after our first son was born, received all of the vaccinations and was diagnosed with autism at 20 months of age. She refused to spread out vacs for our second son. I was told by our current ped that he can afford to spread out vacs with patients who request it, b/c he has such a large practice. However, I was shocked to learn from him that the insurance companies will withhold payment and potentially drop doctors who do not follow the CDC vac schedule with more than 5% of their patients. It's amazing to me how much politics, money, and insurance bullying impacts our kids health.

Re: Ana B comment.

My friend is a nurse at a ped's office. She very much believes in a vaccine/autism connection and spreads out and selectively vaccinates her own child. Yet, she says that there is nothing that she can do about her situation... (ie can't talk to parents, can't make suggestions, etc.). While I appreciated her honesty in telling me that... I almost wanted to sock her in the face (figuratively, of course). Just to know that if all the people like her actually spoke up about what is going on ... things may actually change... but instead she's part of the problem. :(

I give Dr. Oz kudos for at least being honest about the fact that his own children weren't vaccinated against the phony "Swine Flu"... Also, about his concerns about too many vaccinations, etc...
As for Dr. (Pr)Offit... What a tool!

My son's pediatrician told me that he told his own son to spread out his child's vaccines. Yet, at that same doctor's practice, if a parent refused to vaccinate her child on the schedule CDC recommends (And this includes annual flu shot & Gardasil) that family gets kicked out of the practice. This is blatant hypocracy. I can't believe he even had the balls to tell me that. Medical mafia-ism prevails.