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Dr. Paul Offit delivers speech with arguments against exemptions from compulsory vaccination
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On the left, a doctor. On the right, Christ, Scientist
At the special plenary session of the 47th annual meeting of the Infectious Disease Society of America, Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and chief of infectious disease at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, offered compelling arguments against those who seek religious or philosophical exemptions from being vaccinated. Dr. Offit is not a stranger to the topic of vaccines. He helped develop the current rotavirus vaccine from Merck, RotaTeq. He also wrote "Autism's False Prophets", a book that caused quite a backlash against him from the anti-vaccine groups. Some people with that line of thinking went as far as to deliver threats against him.
In his speech, Dr. Offit spoke of the "birth" of the anti-vaccine movement, stating that the movement began on April 19, 1982, after a televised report titled "DPT: Vaccine Roulette". In it, parents of children with chronic conditions were interviewed. Without much supporting evidence, the report concluded that the DPT (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus) vaccine caused neurological damage to those receiving it. From that report and the conclusions that people drew from it, Dr. Offit stated that the National Vaccine Information Center was born. The center is now a main lobbying group against vaccines.
Dr. Offit asked the audience if any of them believed in a Constitutional right to refuse being vaccinated. He followed his inquiry with supporting law evidence of cases that do not support a Constitutional right to refuse vaccines. In "Jacobson vs. Massachusetts", the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that there is no Constitutional right to endanger the public by refusing to take vaccines. "Jacobson" in the case was refusing to take the smallpox vaccine at the time of a smallpox epidemic in Massachusetts. In "Zucht vs. King", the Court ruled that States have the right to impose health regulations as part of their "police powers" for guarding public health. Then, in "Prince vs. Massachusetts", the Court ruled that religious freedom does not include the freedom to expose the public to dangerous infections.
Religious exemptions from vaccination requirements, according to Dr. Offit, came about when the New York State Legislature was pressured into allowing exemptions for Christian Scientists. The Church of Christ, Scientist, founded in 1879, is based on the belief that diseases have no physical cause. Christian Scientists believe that spiritual weakness is the true cause of diseases; that there are no bacteria or viruses to cause illness. The Christian Scientists in New York wanted to be exempt of the polio vaccine, and they got their wish. A few years later, in 1972, the Daycroft School in Connecticut was the site of a polio epidemic the likes of which had not been seen in the United States for decades. The Daycroft School was affiliated with Christian Scientists, and none of the students were immunized against polio. A total of 11 students were permanently paralyzed by a virus that, according to the beliefs of those running the school, did not exist.
Since the New York State Legislature allowed exemptions from vaccines due to religious beliefs, 47 other States in the nation have followed suit. Exemptions are now allowed for philosophical or religious reasons. As a result, diseases like measles and pertussis (whooping cough) have emerged as outbreaks. These diseases were believed to be erradicated in the United States because of the widespread availability of vaccines. With several outbreaks as early as this year, the diseases are still around.
Dr. Offit closed his speech by pointing out that the issue of whether or not to allow exemptions is one of the rights of the individual versus the right of society to be safe and healthy. He put forward as an example the recent protests in New York from health care workers who refused to take the H1N1 influenza vaccine. Health care workers work with some very vulnerable people who cannot be vaccinated because of weakened immune systems, yet they absolutely refuse to be compelled to take the flu vaccine, though they are perfectly fine with taking the Hepatitis B vaccine. Dr. Offit also spoke of parents of children who are fearful to send their children to schools where vaccine rates are low. And he closed his examples about this by speaking about physicians who refused to see non-immunized patients for fear of those patients infecting others in their waiting rooms.
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