Bill on severe CA against anti-vax doctors and medical exemptions

A California legislator has introduced a bill to crack down on doctors dispensing medical exemptions for anti-vaccine parents, a practice that has intensified since the state adopted stricter standards for mandatory vaccination.

"Some schools report that more than 20% of their students enjoy a medical exemption," said Senator Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, in a statement introducing the bill. "It is clear that a small number of physicians are monetizing their powers in granting exemptions and taking advantage of the sale of medical exemptions."

Pan, a physician, has been one of the most vocal advocates for immunization in the legislature. He sponsored the 2015 law requiring children to receive vaccinations when they attend a school, day care center or development center.

His proposed Senate Bill 276 would further limit vaccine exemptions by prohibiting doctors from administering them. Instead, parents wishing to ask their children to go to school without a vaccine will need to contact the California Department of Public Health.

"The doctors will submit information to CRPD, including the reason for the exemption, the doctor's name and license number, and they will have to certify that they have examined the patient," Pan's office said in a statement. statement concerning SB 276.

The bill would also create a database of medical exemptions on vaccines and give state and county health officials the power to revoke exemptions "if they are found to be fraudulent or inconsistent" with the guidelines of the government. vaccination for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "

SB 276 comes as the country continues to fight measles outbreaks, a disease that is almost eradicated in the modern world until British doctor Andrew Wakefield publishes a discredited study since claiming to have a link between the MMR vaccine and autism. There is no link between vaccines and autism, as reported by the CDC.

So far this year, 314 cases of measles have been reported in the United States. California was one of the states that had a case of measles; others include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, the state of New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington.

"Three years ago, we strengthened our state's immunization laws to protect students and the general public from potential diseases. We now see parents being vaccinated with ants and some doctors circumventing this law by freely seeking to obtain medical expense exemptions when families are willing to pay, "said co-chair of the bill, Lorena Gonzalez, said. said D-San Diego. "The real cost is a threat to herd immunity and public health"

SB 276 is also co-sponsored by Vaccinate California, the California Medical Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, California.

"This new legislation will fill a loophole in the current law that has allowed a small number of rogue doctors to circumvent the spirit of the original law and endangered millions of Californians," the statement said. President of the CMA, David H. Aizuss, in a statement the bill.