October 8, 2008 4:12 PM
Vaccination harrassment - moms vent
A mom in Texas wrote me:
Just am having to get this off of my chest as one mom to another:I had the most awful experience in the pediatrician's office yesterday! My daughter was due for a check-up and I had decided to get one particular vaccination for her due to some recent outbreaks in our city.
I had to see another doctor in the practice because my usual one was out of town. You would have thought I had committed some heinous crime against my child by the way I was treated as soon as I walked through the door. I was handed a packet listing the vaccinations the doctor wanted to administer to my child THAT DAY and a form I was told I had to fill out in order to track my daughter's vaccinations.
The information is loaded into a state wide system...but it is VOLUNTARY. I was told I had to fill it out before leaving. Unfortunately for them I am not a mindless sheep, and knew that was not the case. I also knew that my state allows all three types of exceptions and what I was doing was perfectly legal.
My daughter has actually had several vaccinations because she is in daycare. We have simply chosen to spread them out, and exclude some. At this one visit they wanted to give my daughter: MMR, Varicella, Hep B, Hep A, Polio, Prevnar, and DTaP.
I don't care if you are pro or anti vaccination. Any idiot should know that it is not a good idea to give a wee one that many jabs on one day! First the nurse came in to tell me that my child was grievously behind on her shots. Then, when I told her that this was because of a conscious decision and not because of neglect...the real problems started. She hurried out to tell the doctor (and everyone else in the office) that I was not willing to give all of the shots at one time.
"Is that legal?" one nurse gasped in disbelief. At this point I was thinking, "Great! These people want to stick my child with God knows what and they don't even know the laws that govern their own profession!" All I heard was excited and angry whispering for about 10 minutes until the doctor came in. This woman, who had never met me, walked in KNOWING that I was a horrible and neglectful mother. She acted as if the cradle cap that my daughter had recently developed was some sort of deadly illness, and questioned me about her eating habits. Then, she whipped out her paper to "explain to me" what my daughter needed.
I told her firmly that my daughter was only going to get the MMR shot because it is a live virus and all that her immune system needed to deal with. "You don't want the varicella?" Here is a warning that was on the paper I was given regarding the administration of those two vaccinations together: The first dose of MMRV vaccine has been associated with rash and higher rates of fever than MMR and varicella vaccines given separately. Seizures caused by a fever are also reported more often after MMRV. Who is really guilty of medical neglect here!?
Finally, she told me in a threatening tone that she was making a note in my chart that I was refusing the vaccinations. After a few more remarks from the hallway, and having the jab administered, I literally clutched my child to my chest and ran to the car...afraid they would stop me and tell me that they had called CPS. All of this because I was taking my child in for a check-up. I can't even truly put into words how angry and violated I feel right now. I live in fear because I love my child, and I question "authority". How dare I think that I should have a say in how my child is raised! The state has already decided that this is their job.
...oh and as for my neglected child, she is in the 90th percentile for height, the 75th for weight, and is as healthy as a horse.
Katy M.
See also:
Vaccinations: Make an informed decision
Vaccinations: Make an informed decision - Part 2
Posted in Health, Parental Rights, Preschoolers, Toddlers, Vaccines | Permalink
Comments
I had a similar situation happen to me last week when I visited a new pediatrician (we had to change care providers when our insurance changed). I was given the "you are the most irresponsible mother" look by both the nurse and doctor along with their scolding admonishments. Then they told me not to return to the clinic becuase they would not see my boys again unless I chose to allow them to give the full recommended schedule of immunizations. Thanks for the valuable information and encouragement found on your site!
Posted by: bethany | October 8, 2008 4:58 PM
Good vent. For many reasons, I'm pro (most) vaccines, although I did require that they be given separately whenever possible (not going to have four shots in one visit). I just don't think there is medical evidence (that I've seen) that shows that combining them provides any benefit other than financial and general vaccination rates. No one can show me that it provides any benefit to my child, and I can only think of negative possible side effects. I talked about this desire when picking my pediatrician and office. One office looking at my oddly when I told them that, and they didn't get my business.
One comment though on this vent... the fact that your child is in the 90th and 75th percentile does not mean that she is healthier than other children...or less healthy. My daughter is in the 10th percentile. Perfectly healthy, nourished, and happy... just petite.
Posted by: Kellie | October 8, 2008 7:00 PM
I've just moved to the USA from the UK. Varicella and Hep B are not routinely given to children there, it's not deemed necessary.
Chicken pox is hardly life threatening and Hep B can only be transmitted via bodily fluids so again, the risk is extremely minimal for children, I don't know why they insist on it.
(I was a Public Health nurse type thing in the UK before I had children)
Posted by: Sheena | October 8, 2008 7:21 PM
Because a very high incidence of auto-immune conditions in our family, I have chosen to limit the vaccinations my children receive and put plenty of time between the ones they do get. My son had a terrifying reaction to a vaccine when he was a year old, and I had allowed the vaccine against my better judgment, so I felt really bad!
We were given the run around by the Pediatrician that we went to at the time and I had to defend my position almost every time we went in. After several years I finally decided that I was going to look elsewhere(I am the paying customer, aren't I?).
When I found a new practice, after months of searching, I took the boys in for their yearly checkup and the doctor looked at their charts and said "Hmmm...I see they are not up to date on their immunizations. We can take care of that today!" She wanted very much to take care of everything right then. I proceeded to tell my story one more time, fully expecting her to smile and reassure me that "vaccinations these days are just really very safe". She surprised me. After hearing about my middle sons experience and our family history, she said "Well, why don't we see about doing those someday, when they are older."
I was floored. We have had the boys immunized against Diptheria, Tetanus, and Polio. These are scary diseases and I am concerned because they are the things that are the most deadly and they are out there. The MMR we will give when the boys are older and likely to have complications if they contract them. Hep B as well. I don't know what exactly gave the doctor pause, but I am so grateful for her prudence! I feel like we are people and not just numbers on a CDC survey sheet.
As our health system stands right now, we are still in charge of who we see and what kind of treatment our children receive from our providers. Yes, we do get the pressure, but we still have the legal right to determine the best care for our kids. If we end up with socialized health care this will no longer be the case. We will no longer "hire" a doctor, we will be assigned one and we will be required to jump through the hoops of the state. I'm not an alarmist, I am just saying...
Posted by: Jennifer | October 8, 2008 9:50 PM
It scares me to think of how much worse it will be if we end up with socialized healthcare.
Posted by: Amy | October 8, 2008 9:54 PM
Find another doctor!!
My first had most of the routine shots, without any issues. My second had a frightening reaction with his four month shots and that stopped me from giving him multiple shots during his next check up. He has had his shots but it took until he was almost two to get all of them as I would only allow them to administer one at a time. PS -Zero reaction with one shot at a time - it was wonderful! And my doctor's office was completely fine with that. I never got a weird look or negative reaction. I would leave a doctor that treated me or my child in such a harsh way.
Posted by: Kim | October 9, 2008 8:20 AM
I feel for all you mothers out there. Do not give up =) Just call around and find a doctor that will treat you AND respect your rights. It can be done, in fact my MD does not even give her own children all vaccines! Her husband is a heart surgeon, so....I would certainly figure them to know what they are doing.
Needless to say, I do not get any harrassment. I did have to sign a vaccination refusal paper, not a big deal.
Posted by: Carolyn | October 9, 2008 10:00 AM
It looks like there are several of us out there with similar experiences. After reading Barbara's earlier posts about vaccinations, I checked out The Vaccine Book. What a great read! I decided when my son was just a few weeks old that the best thing for him would be to follow Dr. Sears shot schedule. My doctor "informed" me of the risks for not following the recommended schedule and very much questioned my decision. Although he finally agreed to my decision, the few times I've been in since then I get the feeling he thinks I'm some crazy, radical, and careless mother. I'm thinking about switching to a new doctor or a new practice because I lack the trust with him that I would like with my pediatrician. I feel like when I bring up concerns, now, he doesn't take me seriously. So, I definitely share the same frustrations as these other moms.
Posted by: Miriam | October 9, 2008 11:34 AM
My 16 month old just had her first MMR (along with several others) a couple of weeks ago and we ended up in the ER because she had two seizures! The ER docs completely dismissed that it had anything to do with the shot. But I know it did. I ordered the Vaccine Book and will be going slow from now on and really thinking about which vaccines our new baby gets.
Posted by: Paula | October 9, 2008 3:29 PM
I honestly appreciate reading this because I had a terrible situation and thought I was alone. I have been very nervous about vaccinations for my daughter. The big concern was the number of them in such a short time and specifically the MMR. I determined that I wanted to space them out and seperate the MMR if I could find a doctor to do it.
So here is what happened. During her last vaccination visit, we had agreed to give her the 9 mos shots at 12 months. Then once we found a doctor we would start the other shots (MMR) seperately. The doctor told my partner that she was behind on 5 shots (one being the MMR) but he was only going to give her 4 since we were apprehensive about the MMR. So they did and less than 6 hours later we were in the emergency room with an uncontrollable fever. For the next three days we were in there on and off. Every time I tried to tell the Dr's at the hospital that she just had vaccinations they would respond -- "well you know it wasn't the vaccinations" -- and I would respond " no I don't know that!". It was terrible and after that we agreed that we would NEVER give her 4 shots at once again assuming that was the problem.
So here is the real kicker to the story. I finally found a doctor to seperate the MMR. I made the appt and requested her vaccination records so I could talk to the new doctor about an alternative schedule. When I got the vaccination record I nearly cried. THey had not only given her the MMR but 3 other shots along with it!
I firmly believe that this was intentional. The Doc knew that I was the one concerned but wasn't there. He had already voiced that he thought the concern was ridiculous but that he would talk to me about it. I believe he took it upon himself to do this knowing that it would be our word against his and ultimately he didn't think we would do it and he thought it should be done.
I am not sure what to do about it -- thankfully she seems fine in terms of autism but I guess time will tell. She has been sick on and off since she got the shots 6 months ago. Prior she had not been sick at all. I believe it wrecked her immune system but we are taking steps to correct it with natural alternatives.
Please read the bottles of every vaccine they give your child -- do not trust any doctor or nurse to do the right thing. Someone once said to me that you can always get them but you can't take them out. So true.
Posted by: m | November 19, 2008 2:38 PM
