Next there is the issue of the Medical exemption. Dr. Pan stated in the public hearing for the Senate Education Committee that he has signed medical exemptions, and from Bee reporting, one would believe that parents with medical concerns such as autism, allergies and epilepsy would be able to easily obtain one of these exemptions. Not true. The guidebook for physicians(The Pink Book) comes from the CDC, an agency with a definite pro-vaccine agenda, and the conditions that  contraindicate further vaccination are specifically for immune compromised persons such as those receiving chemotherapy or with immune deficiencies such as HIV.  Surprisingly, a child can have a seizure immediately following one vaccine yet still be given all the other vaccines. The conditions that parents report, such as physician  documented presence of the measles virus in their gut, severe allergies to most foods, seizures, autism, sensory integration issues, are not considered an accepted contraindication for further vaccination. This is why these parents are so concerned. Parents would gladly show your staff the videos that show their child babbling or even saying a few words and acting like a typical child at their first birthday, followed by video that shows them after their 15 month vaccines, screaming inconsolably with a high fever that lasts for days or even a week, losing any eye contact or language or play skills. I know these people and they dutifully vaccinated all of their children and never jumped to a link between the vaccine and autism until all the puzzle pieces started to fit together and so many of them had the same experience. Clearly there is a causal relationship or else the Vaccine Compensation Board wouldn’t have paid out settlements on some of these cases. Since there is a complicated process with a statute of limitations there are many parents who never even try to get compensation. The long list of vaccine side effects are just considered collateral damage for the greater good. The problem with that philosophy is that this country has an epidemic of autism. When my son was diagnosed in 1991, the prevalence was 1 in 10,000 and now it is 1 in 50 and the incidence started increasing just a few years after the number of vaccines was doubled. We should be researching any cause of this disability because the cost for treating these kids is enormous , not just to the public schools and other public agencies such as the Regional Centers in California,  but also in the loss of tax revenue because one parent must stay home with the child and can't work. These kids often require a lifetime of care and after their parents are too old, burned out or die, this responsibility often falls to State resources. Far more children will be diagnosed with autism this month than people will be affected by a communicable disease, yet there is no outcry about this health crisis.

This is an issue that merits some actual original research and not just the repetition of the vaccine crisis  information that Dr. Pan repeats as fact. Additionally,why isn't anyone asking how SB277 is really going to help when the initial measles outbreak was caused by foreign visitors? Are we going to start checking shot records at the border? Additionally, since schools only check for vaccine compliance at kindergarten and 7^th grade or when a child changes school districts, potentially a lot of the 177,000 kids with personal exemptions ,who are partially or totally unvaccinated will still be in school. How is the herd immunity affected by that and at what percentage does the risk remain the same as it is now? How is it that private schools like Waldorf, where most parents don't vaccinate fully, have not had a communicable disease crisis? And how is it that this is considered a budget neutral bill, when it will cost the Public school districts untold amounts of money to fulfill their Federal IDEA obligations to provide FAPE (Free Appropriate Public Education) to Special Education students who will now have to be home schooled under independent study. California education code requires that a credentialed teacher supervise these programs and all of the related services like speech and occupational therapy will need to be provided individually in the home. These services are usually provided in classrooms or clinics. The parents of children who need Inclusion with neuro-typical peers as an integral part of their therapy, will undoubtedly take these cases to due process which will also cost school districts huge amounts. Eventually these school districts will have to be bailed out by the State, especially costly when the State loses the Federal contribution to the special education costs because of non-compliance. None of these questions have been raised by the Bee nor have they been addressed by Pan/Allen or any of the Senate committees. No one is asking these questions except the people you describe as the parents in the red shirts. I am part of that group, as a member of Families for Early Autism Treatment (FEAT), but I don't wear a red shirt.This group is not monolithic. The parents with autism concerns are separate from the groups concerned about losing the religious exemption and those  who object for other personal reasons. They share a concern about SB277 infringing on their right to give informed consent for a medical procedure—and a vaccine is a medical procedure performed on a healthy person. I've attended two of the four rallies, standing for hours to have a chance to state my name and position  and I haven't witnessed any of the hostility towards pro SB277  staffers that has been reported, though I have witnessed hostility towards us from some staffers, although most were very helpful.  The  Highway Patrol has always been very respectful and even complementary of the group behavior and some Senate security staff have offered to take group photos on cell phones. I regret that a few people have taken their anger too far but this doesn't reflect the general attitude that I have seen. As to Jodi Hicks and the other lobbyist appearing to advise Pan at the Education Committee,   it is concerning because their very presence on the floor was in stark contrast to the opponents who were ushered through to give their stand.  When I spoke as the President of  Families for Early Autism Treatment and then tried to add my husband’s name and stand they immediately shut off my microphone. Yet Jodi Hicks was on the floor. If she isn't officially lobbying for a pharmaceutical company she is certainly unofficially lobbying, or else why would she be allowed on the floor right behind Dr. Pan, who definitely turned to her for advice.

These are the questions the Bee could be asking, these are the concerns the Bee could look into, these are the investigative stories the Bee is very capable of doing. Tell the  the stories of families whose lives were interrupted and repurposed when their child had an adverse vaccine reaction, maybe listed far down the vaccine brochure as rare, but an everyday occurrence for the family that now cares for this injured child. We only hear of the few children affected by exposure to someone with measles, and that is regrettable but hardly deadly and those who grew up  before the vaccine simply got the disease and were conferred immunity.  Children who are immune compromised by chemo are kept isolated until their immune systems can handle an onslaught of germs including the cold, for  which there is no vaccine, and far more likely to affect this child. Having  both sides would be more interesting and highlight the complexity of  this public policy issue.  You have the makings of a Pulitzer Prize winning series of investigative reporting in this story and I am convinced that when you start digging as I did, you will find that the truth has not been reported.

Sincerely,

Nancy Fellmeth