Bust of Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine" and Hippocratic Oath. (Photo: Public Domain)
Why are Vaccine Adverse Events Not Acknowledged or Reported by Medical Professionals?
SB 276 puts these vulnerable children at higher risk for repeat vaccine adverse events
By California Globe, August 31, 2019 2:29 pm
Physicians are bound to their Hippocratic Oath to “First, do no harm,” but government officials do not carry any liability for injury or harm, nor do pharmaceutical companies since the 1986 National Childhood Vaccination Injury Act protects them.
Legislators have the professional and moral obligation to protect children and support equality, but Senate Bill 276 by Sen. Richard Pan, which would eliminate almost all vaccine medical exemptions, aims to segregate a minority of children from their right to an education. And even worse, for families who can’t afford homeschooling, SB 276 puts these vulnerable children at higher risk for repeat vaccine adverse events. As a pediatric intensive care nurse for 13 years, I believe in vaccinations and understand the desire for community immunity, but I have also observed many vaccine adverse events that shouldn’t be ignored any longer.
I administered vaccines without hesitation until a previously healthy teen came into our unit with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) – brain swelling – after receiving the meningococcal vaccine earlier that week. The teen was paralyzed, in a coma, and had to be placed on a ventilator in the ICU for weeks. When I shared with the treating physician that ADEM was listed as a possible reaction to the meningococcal vaccine and asked whether we should report this to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), I was told a firm “NO” without further discussion. Three weeks later, the teen left our unit still unable to walk or talk, and there was no discussion of the possible cause or the recent vaccination.
After that, I began to notice that most doctors never asked if a new patient was recently vaccinated, despite the child’s diagnosis being listed as a possible adverse event on the vaccine insert. And if I informed the doctor that a parent mentioned their child was recently vaccinated, it was most often ignored. I have seen dozens of cases of seizures, SIDS, paralysis, diabetes, or immune system dysfunction following vaccination, yet I have only seen one report made to VAERS. It begs the question: why are these vaccine adverse events not being acknowledged or reported?
California has immunization rates above 96% for its school children – one of the highest rates in the nation
SB 276 will herd children who were unlucky enough to suffer a vaccine reaction, but lucky enough to have a doctor acknowledge it, into a database where the state will be able to track them, freely violate their rights, and kick them out of school.
Medical professionals agree that all pharmaceuticals carry potential risks. Just as there is a small percentage of children who are allergic to penicillin, there is a percentage of children who have serious reactions after vaccination. SB 276 proponents claim only “1 in a million” reactions, but that’s referring to anaphylactic reactions, not reactions like seizures and paralysis.
Currently, in California, only less than 1% of children have vaccine medical exemptions because of a previous adverse event or family history which puts the child or sibling at risk. Under SB 276, as it’s currently written, there would be a narrow scope of “approved” reactions – anaphylaxis and encephalopathy – and even if a child experienced those, there is no clause for family history so siblings would have to be vaccinated as well. I can’t imagine the decision these parents will have to make, being coerced into risking repeat injury or death, just to keep their children in school.
Physicians are bound to their Hippocratic Oath to “First, do no harm,” but government officials do not carry any liability for injury or harm, nor do pharmaceutical companies since the 1986 National Childhood Vaccination Injury Act protects them. SB 276 would be a liability-free, government-mandated system that harms these vulnerable children again.
As a nurse, I understand the desire to maintain community immunity. In 2018, the CDC reported that California has immunization rates above 96% for its school children, one of the highest rates in the nation. The California Department of Public Health reported 15 pediatric measles cases this year, not one related to school children with medical exemptions.
Yet SB 276 would systematically discriminate against these children with special needs, their rights to privacy, and their free and equal education would be eliminated.
Is this discrimination of less than 1% of children with medical exemptions really a public health crisis and worth the $40 million it will cost taxpayers? The government should be focused on legitimate public health issues, like the Typhus, Typhoid Fever and TB outbreaks among our growing homeless population, rather than this minority of injured children.
Leah Balecha, RN, CCRN, is a pediatric intensive care nurse in Southern California, and can be reached at leahkalma@yahoo.com
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Thank you so much for sharing this side of the debate. I’m so grateful. I hope more professionals who have seen the damage vaccines can do will follow your example.
Thank you. Well explained and compassionate as well.
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Why didn’t this nurse report? She doesn’t need permission from the doctor …
It is criminal for these doctors and healthcare workers to remain silent when injuries and deaths are occurring. How many victims do they need to witness to confirm this most obvious link. We demand accountability not gaslighting. The entire system is corrupt.
” I have seen dozens of cases of seizures, SIDS, paralysis, diabetes, or immune system dysfunction following vaccination, yet I have only seen one report made to VAERS. It begs the question: why are these vaccine adverse events not being acknowledged or reported?”
I am shocked by this. What is the requirement for reporting to VAERS ? I think an RN should be qualified to report.
Nurses and parents can report.
It is said that if you have to lie to support your position, you should probably change your position.
This article contains a lot of false information, which is exactly what we’d expect from the anti-vaccine crowd.
No, sb267 would not “eliminate almost all vaccine medical exemptions”.
No, “adverse events” are not the same thing as “vaccine reactions”, and vaccines have repeatedly been shown NOT to cause many of the things this nurse mentioned.
The list goes on.
Brian, you are completely wrong. Read a vaccine insert. She’s sharing her experiences…things she’s seen with her own eyes.
I’ve read the vaccine inserts. I have all of them. More importantly, I understand them, which is how I know that the author (and anti-vaxxers in general) are being dishonest.
Want me to elaborate?
Brian, why are you lying? Are you employed by Merck or another pharmaceutical corporation?
Nope. I’m not lying.
If you think anything I’ve stated isn’t true, please point it out and I’ll be happy to elaborate so you understand. And no, not employed by any pharma company.
Yes Brian is a known vaccine industry troll. Ignore him. He will pretend that you are wrong and corrupt vaccine makers are saints.
Parents of children who have been damaged by vaccines, have no reason to lie. Their lives and the life of their children have been changed forever. Why does the CDC purchase $4 billion in vaccines yearly? Research and scientists performing safety and efficacy vaccine studies should have no interest in the pharmaceutical industry or government agencies. Why have the number of Autism cases increased at the same time the vaccine schedule has increased? Why do vaccines contain neurotoxins such as mercury, aluminum, and other ingredients such as formaldehyde and animal DNA? Denying a connection between the number of harmful adjutants and the number of vaccines given to infants is turning a deaf ear and blind eye to facts that have been uncovered. I would hope the increase in the number of vaccines and the push for everyone from 0-100 to receive vaccines is not based on profit. But this can be easily solved by never allowing those who test vaccines to never profit from vaccines. Why has there never been a study of vaccinated versus vaccinated children? Ethically, this study can be performed with the number of unvaccinated children in the United States and those who are fully vaccinated. A doctor’s FIRST commitment to his practice is to his patient and “do no harm”. Physicians who know vaccines are causing harm and not reporting the adverse reactions, shame on you. Physicians who believe vaccines are completely safe and the worst that happens is a sore arm or slight fever, I say do your research. Speak with parents who hours after their child received a vaccine, their child was in a coma or died. If vaccines were not causing extensive harm, the pharmaceutical companies would never have ask the government to pay for the damage vaccines have caused and will continue to cause. Few parents begin as anti-VAXXERs but something happened that changed their minds about vaccines. A healthy child who suddenly starts seizing, becomes speechless, paralyzed or slips into a coma or dies is validation to change minds about vaccines. Consider the possibility CDC scientists manipulated data? Perhaps this is true, perhaps not. However, when a child dies hours after his well baby check up, this is not a coincidence.
There are two kinds of anti-vaxxers:
The first are dishonest fraudsters and scam artists who make up false information to vilify vaccination, and the second are the victims of the fraudsters who believe them.
This post is full of examples of false information. For example, there have been tons of studies comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated populations, and this is one reason we know that vaccines don’t cause autism or a number of other things. Anti vaxxers simply deny these studies exist.
Elaborate please.
Brian – I would like to know which placebos were used for Hep B, DTP, MMR, HPV, and flu in the original safety or pre-licensure tests. Sounds like you have a lot of information. Reply when you have the answer. Appreciate it 🙂
That is because they never used a true placebo. HPV did use one, which showed a huge uptick from the placebo to both the full vaccine and all contents sans vaccine in adverse reactions.
Face it, the vaccine industry is crumbling under a combination of bad science, ruthless disregard for risk, avarice, etc., which is why they have to FORCE people to comply. All the money and power behind them and still people opt out. History will not be kind to the modern day vaccine industry machine.
PennyParty says “Brian – I would like to know which placebos were used for Hep B, DTP, MMR, HPV, and flu in the original safety or pre-licensure tests”
Well, there have been literally thousands of vaccine safety and efficacy studies, both pre and post licensure, many of which they tested against a placebo. Depending on the type of study, different kinds of placebos would be most appropriate. For example, if that type of vaccine had no alternative, then an inert placebo like saline would be appropriate. This is the case for the original Hep B vaccine, but later improved versions of the vaccine would be compared to the previous vaccine as a placebo. Influenza vaccines, being “new” vaccines most years, are tested against a variety of placebo types.
For combination vaccines like DTaP or MMR, it is completely unethical to compare it to an inert placebo like saline. It would be like another Tuskegee syphilis scandal, because the individual vaccines were already proven effective, and it would be evil to leave people vulnerable to these diseases that were still killing hundreds of people every year. That said, some unethical researchers in the past have used inappropriate kinds of placebos during various studies in unregulated countries (it would be illegal in the USA).
Anti-vaccine fraudsters like to repeat nonsensical lies like “There has never been a study about _____” but these are easily debunked with a little bit of fact checking.
Provide a reference please to at least a single vaccine study with real placebo and honest design with no grants/awards from pharmaceutical companies.
You failed to mention that there are many studies about dangerous and numerous adverse effects of vaccinations.
Do you even know what a “true placebo” is, or would you just make up a new definition after I listed some of the studies?
As I already explained, the best type of placebo depends on the type of study being done. If anybody says that all placebos must always be something inert like saline (which isn’t even inert), then they don’t know much about scientific studies.
Nothing at all (placebo) is sufficient. Saline placebo is not always required…
Brian, you are absolutely correct. Vaccines have proven to be safe and effective, and never cause serious injury or death. So next time a child or an adult is injured by vaccine we sue for malpractice, manslaughter, assault and battery. And there will be no recourse – who in position of power wants to be called an anti-vaxxer?
Using cap lock doesn’t make a false statement true. Have you ever read any vaccine insert? Try it. You will learn what the manufacturer itself put on the 40 pages list of possible reactions including disability and death
I’ve read the inserts. I have all of them. Many even list some of the studies that proved them to be safe and effective.
Do you believe the vaccine inserts?
Very wonderful article and yes, the 40 million would be useful elsewhere. For example figuring out how to test children before vaccination. But since the denial is so rampant, that would require an admission reactions occur.
And probably a lot more than 40 million.
Their symbology belies their Hippocratic Oath. The caduceus, or rod of Hermes, with twin serpents entwined around a winged staff symbolizes commerce. Hermes/Mercury was the messenger of the gods, conductor of the dead, and protector of merchants & thieves. A most appropriate misappropriation of symbology as it turns out!
Thank you so much for this article. Finally a news source courageous enough to print the truth. Vaccines are pharmaceutical products, and like all pharmaceuticals, they lead to adverse effects in a percentage of the population. Why is this so hard for people to acknowledge. It makes perfect sense to anyone who is looking at his logically.
Well of course vaccines can have adverse effects, which are extremely rare. Based on numbers from the VICP, the rate is less than one-in-a-million, making vaccines safer than many mundane things we do every day.
The diseases that vaccines protect against, on the other hand, also have adverse effects. These can be serious, and are thousands of times more likely than any adverse reaction from a vaccine. If a doctor prevents a vaccination in a patient based on illegitimate reasons, they are directly violating the idea of “Do no harm”.
Anaphylaxis is one in a million, there is not sufficient data collection with a voluntary reporting system to determine how “rare” these adverse events actually are.
If it was your life or your child’s that is altered you would not take sides.
Sorry, the data available shows vaccine injuries to occur at a rate of about one-in-a-million.
Plenty of parents like blame completely unrelated things on vaccines as a scapegoat, which is why they think the rate is higher.
1 in 40 actually. All medical confirmed. Lazarus CDC study
The Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) is not the place that vaccine statistics are being tallied, VAERS is. Using VICP for stats is like using successfully prosecuted court cases to estimate the number of women who are raped in a year. Many families do not seek compensation because either they didn’t know about the program, they don’t want to go through the trouble, or they didn’t submit their case in the three year time limit. The 1 in a million number was made up at some point and simply passed around as fact, but it isn’t based on any actual analysis. VAERS stats are useful, but official estimates are that only 1% of incidents are actually reported.
Yep! The Harvard Pilgrim study showed that physicians reported possible adverse effects less than 1% of the time… even when prompted by their computers about a possible vaccine reaction after updating their patients medical files after a vaccine. https://healthit.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/docs/publication/r18hs017045-lazarus-final-report-2011.pdf
As a Physician Assistant I see plenty of adverse reactions to vaccines. It’s also worth noting that I hear these same stories from nurses at least 2 times a year. Too bad this is not acknowledged by my colleagues.
Brian it seems as though you are in a great deal of denial. It never ceases to amaze me how strongly people will fight to try & prove that vaccine reactions/adverse effects are supposedly one in a million when I know so many who have had these very reactions, my own children included. Bring up allergy to penicillin & it is so widely accepted, why not be the same with vaccines? People are SO defensive about vaccines which tells me that there is something to be hidden when it can’t even be questioned or discussed without being called a “crazy anti vaxxer” or cussed up one side & down the other. I mean, what do people who used to vaccinate their children, stand to gain by speaking out about what happened to their child? Nothing! No fame, no fortune… we just want to make others aware that there ARE risks & they are NOT one in a million! Good day!
Thank you for sharing truth. This, being a 10 disease discussion, is just too complex for someone to think all vaccines are safe and effective. Anyone who has not ever experienced a vaccine reaction, like myself, won’t understand and will continue to read and spread from propaganda that the immunity free vaccine manufactures pay to put out. no fault of theirs; I did it too, I was 100% on board with the “safe and effective” chant, until I had reaction(s) that were way more serious then the disease I vaccinated against. I’ve become vaccine specific now. And I even use some vaccines for my children. A few with reactions that were not palatable. So It’s definitely not as simple as the one size fits all propaganda that is pushed. I would never tell someone not to vaccinate. But the choice needs to be their own. This is about mandating a liability free product. Reactions are not as rare as ppl think they are. They’re just told, by doctors, that their one-off and rare occurance that just happened to happen hours after a vaccine it’s not a reaction. But, Even after not being able to walk for two weeks, I’d still use a vaccine if I absolutely needed it.
Irena, excellent point!!!! We have to stop being defenseless or defensive. We have to fight back. If a doctor is telling you that vaccines are safe, then report him/ her for lying to the patient. It’s very simple, I cannot understand why no one has done it yet. Just record the conversation — and you have a very good claim to ethic committee of HHS and state licensing agency. See how many of them will be willing to risk their license
I have noticed this as well in my 15 years of nursing in the emergency room and critical care- many patients come in recently vaccinated having symptoms of a vaccine reaction and when asked, not a single doctor agrees to report it as a possible vaccine reaction. The reactions I’ve seen have been as severe as children suddenly unable to walk, high fevers with seizures, sudden asthma like symptoms, and many many more. Honestly, the doctors don’t even consider vaccines as a cause until asked. A typical response from the doctor is they hadn’t thought of it but yes it is possible its a vaccine reaction and no they don’t want to report it to anyone. There is only one other nurse in my hospital that asks patients if they were recently vaccinated- its not even a question on our admission/screening form so most nurses and doctors are not in the habit of thinking along those lines.
Another reason for under reporting of adverse reactions to vaccines is because the public has been indoctrinated to not look at the adverse reactions to be related to the vaccine. A child might get a little sick or groggy after a vaccine, and the parents are not thinking that it is a bad thing. They are thinking this is proof that the vaccine is doing it’s job?? Maybe a month or 2 later the child or adult presents more health issues, and they don’t make the connection to the vaccine.
11/16/2019 Vaccine ingredient warning: Ethyl mercury in vaccines 50 times more toxic than methyl mercury in fish
Science proves that ethyl mercury is actually far MORE toxic than methyl mercury. Most nurses and doctors parrot the myth the other way around, falsely claiming that ethyl mercury is “less persistent in the body” so therefore it’s less toxic, except they have no science to back that up, whatsoever.