VETO AB499 Governor Brown
Children should not be vaccinated for any reason
without the voluntary, informed consent of their parents.
The non-profit National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), founded in 1982, is a pro-education, pro-informed consent consumer advocacy organization that secured vaccine safety and informed consent provisions in the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986. [i] NVIC opposes state and federal legislation that allows medical or school personnel to vaccinate minor children for any reason without the voluntary, informed consent [ii] of their parents.
This is a fundamental product safety and informed consent issue. The legal right of parents to give their informed consent for minor children to take medical risks, [iii] which can result in injury or death, trumps the goals of state agencies or vaccine corporations [iv] and medical organizations, [v] [vi] whose employees, stockholders or members profit or professionally benefit from increased, widespread vaccine use.
Unlike medical, school or other personnel administering vaccines, parents are legally accountable and financially responsible for the health care and education of a minor child when that child experiences a vaccine reaction and becomes chronically ill or disabled. Existing and future vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases, such as HPV, hepatitis B, herpes, [vii] gonorrhea, [viii] chlamydia [ix] and HIV/AIDS, [x] should not be placed in a special category to allow legally unaccountable individuals to persuade a minor child to get vaccinated without the knowledge or consent of the parent.
Product Safety & Liability:
- Vaccines are pharmaceutical products that carry a risk of injury or death, which can be greater for some than others; [xi]
- The Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded in a 2011 report that scientific evidence is inadequate to determine whether HPV vaccine can or cannot cause different kinds of serious brain and immune system dysfunction, including brain inflammation (ADEM); chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy, arthralgia, multiple sclerosis, Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS); ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease); pancreatitis and blood disorders. [xii] [xiii] As of July 2011, there have been 21,000 reports to the government of health problems following HPV (Gardasil) vaccination, including 3,000 serious cases and 98 deaths.[xiv]
- The IOM also concluded that scientific evidence is inadequate to determine whether hepatitis B vaccine can or cannot cause serious brain and immune system dysfunction, including brain inflammation (encephalitis, ADEM) and encephalopathy; multiple sclerosis; optic neuritis; GBS; chronic inflammatory polyneuropathy; vasculitis; lupus; psoriatic, reactive or rheumatoid arthritis; Type 1 diabetes or fibromyalgia. [xv] As of July 2011, there have been more than 50,000 reports to the government of health problems following receipt of hepatitis B containing vaccines, including more than 9,000 serious cases and 966 deaths. [xvi]
- Vaccine manufacturers, doctors and other vaccine administrators have no legal accountability or financial liability in civil court when a government recommended or mandated vaccine(s) causes permanent injury or death; [xvii][xviii][xix]
- The U.S. federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program has awarded more than $2 billion to vaccine victims since 1988 but two out of three vaccine injured plaintiff’s are turned away without financial support. [xx]
Informed Consent & Parental Responsibility:
- Informed consent to medical risk taking is a human right [xxi] and is the central ethical principle in the ethical and legal practice of modern medicine; [xxii] [xxiii] [xxiv]
- There is scientific evidence that the physical, mental and emotional development of children, including pre-adolescents, varies and is often not sufficient to enable children to make well reasoned decisions about risk taking involving their health and well being. [xxv] [xxvi] [xxvii]
- A substantial body of U.S. law affirms the fundamental, legal right for parents to make medical, educational and other important welfare decisions for their minor children; [xxviii]
- Parents are legally and financially responsible for the health care and education of their children and, therefore, parents must retain the legal right to give informed consent to vaccination of the child.
Increased Health Care and Legal Costs:
In California, there is legislation awaiting Governor Jerry Brown’s signature, AB499, that will allow minor children to receive vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases, such as HPV (Gardasil) and hepatitis B, without the informed consent of their parents. [xxix] If this legislation becomes law:
- California taxpayers will pay for state purchase of Gardasil vaccine from Merck at $108 per dose [xxx] or $324 for every 12-year old child plus vaccine delivery and administration costs.
- Total costs will be in the multi-millions, especially when money is spent for state funded special education and health services for vaccine injured children, who are without health insurance and do not receive federal vaccine injury compensation.
- The state will face increased civil litigation costs when parents sue the state for violating a long held parental legal right and responsibility [xxxi]to make decisions about medical care for their minor children.
References:
[iii]Parental Right to Refuse Medical Treatment in Mother Doe & Father Doe vs. Anthony Conyers, Jr., Commissioner of VA Dept. of Social Services and Sarah C. Snead, Director of Chesterfield Dept. of Social Services and VA Governor Mark E. Warner. Re: Liberty Interest. June 17, 2005.