Should those who don't vaccinate their children be

[nicole]

Should they be required to homeschool their kids? I am beginning to wonder if that is all we can do to push back against the loss of herd immunity. Certainly, unless the gov makes it illegal not to vaccinate, I don't see this movement growing smaller anytime soon.

Your thoughts?

[kwombles]

The government can tighten the codes, certainly, and allow less exemptions. I think that medical exemptions (with two doctors not at the same practice concurring) should be allowed, though. There are individuals who can't vaccinated and they need the protection of the herd and should be allowed at all places vaccines are required. The religious exemption needs to end, and so do I-don't-feel-like-it exemptions. They're free not to vaccinate, certainly, but no day care and no public schools. Including colleges.

[nicole]

I agree.

[principaldad]

I don't think that homeschooling is the answer. Contrary to popular belief homeschooled kids interact with others constantly (or at least they should). Plus, I don't like the idea of parents who believe this woo teaching it to their kids as science (the biblical creationists are bad enough).

I think the solution is to make them liable for any damages that they cause. A few million dollars in lawsuits for people like McCarthy et. al. and a lot of this woo will disappear. A parent of an unvaccinated child should be liable if their child sickens a child whose parents cannot vaccinate their child (too young, etc.). A few high profile cases will wake people up.

[kwombles]

Interesting point of view. Alhough our kids carry viruses around constantly. Do we want to open it up where we can be sued if it can be shown that our child brought pink eye in or a stomach virus.

[principaldad]

I do not want to open up the courts for just any disease transmission. However, failure to vaccinate a healty child constitutes gross negligence. In her HuffPo blog entry, Dr. Sarah Lovinger tells of the anecdote of a partially vaccinated baby that died from pertussis caught from an unvaccinated teenager. The parents of that teenager endangered not only their own teen, but also other children. Parents who allow their kids to drink alcohol are making a similar choice. They are held liable if their intoxicated child injures someone. The same should apply for refusal to vaccinate.

Certainly there are children who cannot be vaccinated. There are also those who do not receive immunity from the vaccine. In these cases there is no negligence, and therefore no liability.

[mnballetmom]

What about suing Oprah if the numbers of unvaccinated start rising alarmingly once Juggs McAntiVax™ gets her new show and starts spewing?

[kwombles]

;D Love your name for Jenny!

[mnballetmom]

I put the ™ there because I swiped it from a commenter on Orac's blog. It's perfect, in my estimation. A very close second is AntiVax Barbie.

[kwombles]

I like that one, too.

I posted a rebuttal on the wellness fraud both to the Kirby thread and over at Countering. Hopefully Huff will let it on, but if not, at least I have it up somewhere.

[principaldad]

How about MegaWoo Barbie?

[mnballetmom]

I like that one too!