More Doctors 'Fire' Vaccine Refusers

[TheTrueCentrist]

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577209230884246636.html

Pediatricians fed up with parents who refuse to vaccinate their children out of concern it can cause autism or other problems increasingly are “firing” such families from their practices, raising questions about a doctor’s responsibility to these patients.

Medical associations don’t recommend such patient bans, but the practice appears to be growing, according to vaccine researchers.

 

[Nec5]

So much for physicians helping all that appear.

What next? You don’t exercise enough or follow my diet plan! Find yourself another doctor.

Patients have choices too.

 

[TheTrueCentrist]

So much for physicians helping all that appear.

What next? You don’t exercise enough or follow my diet plan! Find yourself another doctor.

Patients have choices too.

If a patient was refusing to cooperate with the doctor, why would the doctor waste his time?

 

[saraih]

It sounds like the doctor/patient relationship was just not a good mesh. Are the unvaccinated children a potential health threat for other patients with low immune systems?

 

[Dale_M]

It sounds like the doctor/patient relationship was just not a good mesh. Are the unvaccinated children a potential health threat for other patients with low immune systems?

Perhaps, but certainly they are a potential threat to infants or children who haven’t been fully vaccinated. And since there is a chance of encountering such in the patient waiting area, some doctors are reluctant to take the risk. The article mentions that was a major reason for one clinic to “fire” the families who refused to vaccinate.

Quoting from the article

In one case, an unvaccinated child came in with a high fever and Dr. LaReau feared the patient might have meningitis, a contagious, potentially deadly infection of the brain and spinal cord for which a vaccine commonly is given. “I lost a lot more sleep than I usually do” worrying about the situation, he said.

“You feel badly about losing a nice family from the practice,” added Dr. LaReau, but families who refused to vaccinate their kids were told that “this is going to be a difficult relationship without this core part of pediatrics.” Some families chose to go elsewhere while others agreed to have their kids inoculated.

 

[BOSS10L]

So much for physicians helping all that appear.

What next? You don’t exercise enough or follow my diet plan! Find yourself another doctor.

Patients have choices too.

Yes, but considering how litigious our society has become, I can’t say I entirely blame them. One of the big reasons why health insurance is so expensive is the insane extraneous malpractice insurance all doctors must carry.

 

[didymus]

So much for physicians helping all that appear.

What next? You don’t exercise enough or follow my diet plan! Find yourself another doctor.

Patients have choices too.

Twenty-plus years ago my uncle’s doctor told him to quit smoking. When he didn’t (switched from Pall Mall to Tarreyton instead) the doctor dropped him.

 

[Hokomai]

Vaccination is easy. dieting successfully is extremely hard. Not the same issue at all. the problem here is the spread of anti-science beliefs, which undermine proven protection for populations.

 

[L_piperatus]

I side with the doctors on this. Now if only that photographer from Arizona who was sued by the gay couple for declining to photograph their gay commitment ceremony, could enjoy the same freedom. “Sorry folks, this would have been an extremely difficult relationship, without this core part of Christian ethics and morality. I refuse to document anyone’s gay commitment ceremony, because I don’t agree that such things should be honored and celebrated in the first place.”

 

[pnewton]

I am with the doctors on this one. An attorney whose client would not follow his advice might well withdraw his service. Private schools expel children that do not follow the rules. Public schools require appropriate immunization. If parents decline immunization there is no reason for a doctor to think that such parents will stop there and do their own thing in other areas, like finishing a regiment of antibiotics because they disagree with the dosage.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

If a patient was refusing to cooperate with the doctor, why would the doctor waste his time?

I stopped seeing allopathic doctors a couple of years ago, after I realize that they are just fronts for the pharmaceutical industry. My health has taken a dramatic turn for the better as a result. I “fired” my doctor when I finally realized that all he was doing was making me sicker.

 

[Tenofovir]

Vaccination is easy. dieting successfully is extremely hard. Not the same issue at all. the problem here is the spread of anti-science beliefs, which undermine proven protection for populations.

So predictable . LOL!!! Being “anti-science” would imply rejection of science. What these people do, is reject one particular scientific finding or perhaps the interpretation of that finding, and not “science” as a way of gaining knowledge per se. It’s more likely these people are anti-statistics because they worry about extremely rare risks while missing out on opportunities which carry far more significant benefits. That smacks of poor stats understanding. Statistics is not a branch of science, but is an essential element of modern research and its interpretation.

 

[Scott_Lafrance]

So predictable . LOL!!! Being “anti-science” would imply rejection of science. What these people do, is reject one particular scientific finding or perhaps the interpretation of that finding, and not “science” as a way of gaining knowledge per se. It’s more likely these people are anti-statistics because they worry about extremely rare risks while missing out on opportunities which carry far more significant benefits. That smacks of poor stats understanding. Statistics is not a branch of science, but is an essential element of modern research and its interpretation.

Modern Medicine is more about money than it is about curing or preventing disease. The only science that matters to them in what improves the bottom line.

 

[rainbow1]

Actually, there is always another side to the story. My daughter started having major health issues that occurred shortly after her one year vaccinations. After many years of seeing doctors and specialists who have “no idea” what cause my child’s problems, I decided not to get her vaccinated until she is older. I am convinced the vaccines harmed her. And I am not saying that would happen with all children. However, I do believe my child should be able to get antibiotics for an infection, despite my choice of not vaccinating her until she is older. Anyone who has not suffered the pain of making this type of decison while seeing their child suffer ought to be careful in judging others. And this includes doctors.

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

So much for physicians helping all that appear.

What next? You don’t exercise enough or follow my diet plan! Find yourself another doctor.

Patients have choices too.

There’s also a tort action called “patient abandonment” that has cost some doctors big time.

 

[Dale_M]

There’s also a tort action called “patient abandonment” that has cost some doctors big time.

Yes, dumping a patient who is in poor health and doesn’t have time to find equally qualified treatment can be grounds for a lawsuit. However, if the children of the family are reasonably healthy, then ending the doctor-patient relationship carries no fault.

 

[Tenofovir]

Yes, dumping a patient who is in poor health and doesn’t have time to find equally qualified treatment can be grounds for a lawsuit. However, if the children of the family are reasonably healthy, then ending the doctor-patient relationship carries no fault.

Problem patients are a frustration. But at the end of the day the patient also has to make a choice, does he comply to the treatment guidelines - is he serious about his treatment - or not. Note that this isn’t an issue of smoking or diet, but an issue of refusing to take treatment regularly or go for tests and so on. One may have no legal responsibility after hammering away a few times what a patient should do, but it is taxing on one’s emotions and conscience when one sees him crash and he could have prevented it all by being more adherent.

 

[pnewton]

There’s also a tort action called “patient abandonment” that has cost some doctors big time.

While you are the expert, I believe that all that is required is some degree of notice so that the patient is not abandoned. From what I understand, that is being done here, giving the patient both time to get vaccinations or find another physician.

 

[Rich_Olszewski]

While you are the expert, I believe that all that is required is some degree of notice so that the patient is not abandoned. From what I understand, that is being done here, giving the patient both time to get vaccinations or find another physician.

Dale is correct. It usually involves a more serious medical condition. A lady friend of mine recovering from a broken hip is about to bring action against a surgeon who abandoned her because he didn’t like the way she spoke to his physician’s assistant!

 

[exnihilo]

It is interesting what you can refuse service for in this country. The government goes to great lengths to prosecute people for refusing service for myriad reasons including things many people find immoral. But there is no protection for those who dont want to follow their vaccination program.

The Swine Flu false plague was justification for many hospitals to force their employees to get flu shots. If flu shots are so great and actually prevent the flu why aren’t hospitals shouting from the rooftops how they’ve ended the flu among their workers? Why aren’t they bragging about how much money they have saved in reduced absenteeism? The answer is of course that the vaccine is basically worthless. If the medical profession is so wrong about this vaccine I have serious doubts about others.