Doctors urged to break ties with families who refuse vaccinations for children
The American Academy of Pediatrics is changing its stance on how doctors should deal with parents who chose not to vaccinate their children. The new policy states pediatricians should break ties with
News 12 Staff
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Sep 9, 2016, 6:52 AM
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Updated 2,791 days ago
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The American Academy of Pediatrics is changing its stance on how doctors should deal with parents who chose not to vaccinate their children.
The new policy states pediatricians should break ties with families who don't vaccinate, because it puts children who are too young for the shots at risk.
The AAP urged doctors in the past to treat children whose parents were hesitant to get the vaccines due to religious objections or the fear that vaccines were linked to autism.
As many as 1-in-8 pediatricians reported in 2013 that they wouldn't treated families who refused to vaccinate, according to the AAP. That number is about double from 2006.
Some parents say that they like the academy's new policy.
"I think a child should be vaccinated because it prevents the risk of getting diseases or something," says mother Biance Gomez. I think it's very important."
But not everyone is happy with the new policy. Sue Collins of the New Jersey Coalition for Vaccination Choice believes the AAP's policy is unethical.
"I think it's really short-changing patients and tying the hands of doctors because they now are not able to give individual care and figure out what's best for each patient," Collins says.
The average child in the United States will get more than a dozen vaccinations by the time he or she is 2 years old.
