Seeing Things in a While New Light

But have you ever heard of your doctor firing you?? Strange but true--a new trend is emerging from the world of health care providers in pediatrics. In a recent study of pediatricians of Connecticut, roughly 30% out of the 133 doctors asked said they had asked a family to leave their practice for refusing to vaccinate their children.

Due to concerns that vaccines could cause developmental disorders such as autism and Asperger`s, many parents are choosing to skip vaccination--whether or not that means they`ll lose their family doctor. Pediatricians feel as though disease prevention is a key role in their practices, and regardless of the CDC`s and AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) issuance of a yearly vaccination schedule, many parents ask if their child`s immunizations can be pushed back or completely skipped. This places the pediatrician in a very awkward position--do they honor the parent`s wishes or stop working with the family altogether?

According to the CDC, between 2009 and 2010, many of the primary inoculations for young children rise--but lower inoculation rates of other vaccines have been blamed for a rise in outbreaks of whooping cough and the measles in recent years. Ultimately, the decision to vaccinate does lay with the parents or guardians, but you also have to place yourself in the physician`s shoes. If you were on the other side of the examining table and suspected that the child had something highly contagious and deadly such as meningitis, that you knew there was a vaccination available for but it was never administered, really--what would you do??