Why do some California parents think that their child’s medical exemption is getting revoked?
Maybe because it was written by a doctor who has been disciplined by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.
Is Your Child’s Medical Exemption in California Getting Revoked?
Was your child’s medical exemption written by a doctor who has been disciplined by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California?
“Pursuant to California law, medical exemptions are revoked if they were issued prior to January 1, 2020 by any physician who has had disciplinary action taken by the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California. (Health & Safety Code, §120372(d)(4)).”
Pre-2020 Medical Exemptions Written by Disciplined Physicians are Revoked
A trigger in SB 276 is going into effect, and all medical exemptions that were written by a doctor that has been disciplined by the medical board are being revoked.
If you aren’t sure if your doctor has been disciplined, there is a list of disciplined doctors you can check!
Although most folks likely won’t be surprised about who is on the list…
Or why…
“What I am getting at is the fact that there are 92 pages of doctor names or 8500 names on the list is unimportant because there are only a handful or two of physicians who have written all or almost all of these non-ACIP MEs. Beyond that, I will obliquely say that if your child’s ME was not written by his/her PCP and you found your ME writing physician through some parental online social media platform, chances are the doctor who wrote that ME is under an investigation even if you do not know it, because investigations are confidential until either an accusation is filed by the board, or the board has to go to court to obtain medical records. The point being, you are likely not to know if your ME writing physician is under investigation absent these two legal and public events.”
Rick Jaffe, Esq
They may be a bit surprised if their doctor hasn’t yet made it on to the list…
But that’s probably because the investigation against their doctor hasn’t yet been completed (Michael Fielding Allen, Kelly Sutton, etc.) or their discipline simply hasn’t gone into effect yet (Ron Kennedy).
What to Do if Your Child’s Medical Exemption in California Is Getting Revoked
So what next?
Well, if your child has a true medical exemption, you should appeal the revocation!
“As I said in my post, under SB 276 prior MEs written beyond ACIP guidelines (and that means essentially every single one of them for the children of those reading this post) were or would have been over/done/toast under SB 276. It was just a matter of time of how long it would take for some authority to revoke them, (under SB 276).”
Rick Jaffe, Esq
But as we all know, this isn’t really about true medical exemptions.
SB 276 was passed because of all of the abuse and the inappropriate medical exemptions that were being written.
If your child’s medical exemption is being revoked and it was “written well beyond ACIP guidelines” by a doctor you found on the Internet to write the exemption, then you should consider getting them vaccinated and protected, understanding that:
- many false vaccine contraindications are used to scare parents away from vaccinating their kids
- a family history of altered immunocompetence is not a vaccine contraindication unless your own child is immunosuppressed
- vaccines are not associated with autism
- having a stork bite or MTHFR polymorphism is not a contraindication to getting vaccined
- vaccines are tested together, in long-term studies, often with placebos
- severe vaccine reactions are extremely rare
- you put others at risk when you and your child are unvaccinated
- there is no benefit to skipping or delaying your child’s vaccinations, only the risk of getting a vaccine preventable disease until they are finally caught up on their vaccines
- you can change your mind, now that you have more information, and get your kids vaccinated
What else should you know?
Although California has now been touted has having the strictest vaccine laws, you actually need very few vaccines to comply with their school entry vaccine requirements!
Ideally you would get all of the vaccines on the CDC immunization schedule, but
And know that vaccines that are safe, with few risks, and are necessary.
Are you ready to get your kids caught up on their vaccines?
Depending on your child’s age and if you use combination vaccines, like Pediarix, Pentacel, Vaxelis, ProQuad, Kinrix, and Quadracel, it could mean just one or two shots at each visit, not the five or six that you are imagining!
More on Vaccine Laws
- Ask 8 Questions Before You Skip a Vaccine
- More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic
- How To Counter Vaccine Hesitancy
- Parents Who Regret Not Vaccinating Their Kids
- America’s New Normal: Propaganda About the Unhealthiest Generation
- Why Are States Eliminating Religious Exemptions for Immunizations?
- Graphs That Show Vaccines Don’t Work
- The Fatal Flaw in the Anti-Vaccine Movement
- Learn the Risks of Following Bad Advice
- A Legislative Guide to Advocating for Stronger Vaccine Laws
- Three doctors face medical discipline for vaccine exemptions, and more could be on the way
- Lessons From California’s Discipline of a Popular Physician for Vaccination Exemptions Without Medical Cause