The Immunization Decision Class

We will be teaching The Immunization Decision in several venues over the summer. Here is a basic description of the class.

Class Description: The Immunization Decision is the 'thinking parents' guide to vaccine decisions. The goal of the class is to educate you about a wide range of considerations that affect your choices with respect to vaccinations. Because our children are unique, the class will focus on an individualized approach to vaccines rather than promoting a single philosophy. We will stress options, safety, long term considerations, and review the factors around us that influence our choices about immunizations.

Dates, Times and Locations: Friday May 30, 2014 Jackson Hole Wyoming. The class is FREE but requires preregistration since we are limiting the class size.

Instructor Information: I feel that my collective experience has provided me with a great deal of perspective on vaccine issues as they relate to different populations and different individuals around the world. I am neither for or against vaccines; but believe that medications should be prescribed on the basis of individual need with respect to the unique concerns of the individual patient. I am a huge advocate of parental rights and believe that when parents are armed with good information they make exceptional decisions for their children. My goal in teaching about vaccines is to offer factual information, provide options to parents, and introduce the wide range of considerations that decisions about vaccines embody.

I am the proud mother of three unimmunized children. My practice, which focuses on family health with an emphasis on pediatrics and woman's healthcare, is very diverse. Accordingly I serve populations at all places along the continuum of the vaccine choice. As a physician it is not my job to tell you what to do or make decisions for you; it is my job to provide you with the best information available, support you in the decisions you make, and provide ongoing care and medical support to your family.

Policy on Classes:
Genuine Health only exists in partnership with education. We promote educational classes as a way to serve the community and provide cost effective opportunities for people to make good decisions with respect to their own health.

Our community has expanded from a small rural practice to an international community over the twenty years it has existed. We will make an effort to accommodate people in distant locations or with other issues of access by offering Skype or teleconferencing for classes.

All classes require pre-registration in order for us to compile class materials and organize the event. We gladly take requests for class topics and frequently travel to provide opportunities to people who are underserved by Naturopathic Medicine.

Vaccines and the Media

Media is a powerful tool. I remember seeing an ad for vaccines on TV. A small child was playing in the middle of a busy street. And me, with my unimmunized children, I was compared to the mother...irresponsible and putting my kids in unnecessary danger.

The irony was that I had researched vaccines for about 7 years, reviewing medical journals, popular literature and interviewing experts before I made my well informed choices. Yet the women I saw who simply did as they were told and followed the schedule blindly....THEY were good parents.

I think as a parent the most frustrating thing about this whole issue is that it is so purposely misleading. If vaccines are such a universally good thing, it would be easy to simply show the clear scientific evidence of benefit.... And everyone would comply, right?  So why use media scare tactics over reason and clear information? Issues related to the safety, efficacy, and promotion of vaccines are complicated.... and ambiguous. Not because there are not clear benefits to certain populations.... But because promoting the same prescription drug to all people without consideration of need or circumstances is simply bad medicine.

I think if all the risks and the level of effectiveness were clearly disclosed for each vaccine, it would be very obvious to people that these are drugs that do not apply to all our children but need to be considered, like all other prescription drugs, on a case by case basis with a professional. Why are vaccines advertised like a commodity? I think the lack of clear information makes it difficult to make an informed decision about an issue that feels really significant to how I will approach healthcare for my children all of their lives. This seems very counterintuitive to me as a mother and as a physician. I think that this type of media campaign is insulting to an intelligent parent seeking factual information and unbiased advice to make healthcare choices.

MLM and Vaccine Promotion

The campaign to promote vaccinations reminds me of a multi-level marketing plan. Although there are a few 'big names' promoting the practice.... The majority of sales are being done by non-medical 'consultants' such as school faculty and administration, public health employees, and medical office personnel  unqualified to write the prescription for the drugs they promote.

And although the 'scientific literature' is clearly alluded to; sales are promoted by 'testimonials' appealing to consumer emotions rather than providing clear factual documentation.

The company media provided to 'consultants' is well funded, glossy photos, billboards, tv adds designed to promote sales and make it clear how much risk you take by not 'buying in'.

The most effective part of this campaign is the down line.... Other consumers such as your Mother in Law, next door neighbor, and daughters best friends mother all work together to promote more sales and stress the clear danger of not being part of this great 'opportunity'.

I applaud the brainpower behind this campaign. It's pretty clear to me that vaccines had to be taken out of the realm of legitimate medicine and marketed in this way because of the liability issues associated promoting these drugs across the board to a population as vulnerable as children (vaccine injury act). Pharmaceutical companies remove themselves from liability and the government takes over marketing and deals with all the problems. So now, if your child does suffer a reaction from the prescription drug that was administered to them by a health professional; the government - not the physician - deals with the liability. Of course it's not called malpractice because vaccines are being administered 'outside' of the flow of legitimate medicine. When the government stepped in, both physicians and the pharmaceutical companies themselves were freed of any liability issues associated with vaccines.

Sometimes I think we get so bogged down by details that we fail to notice the big picture. When I step back and see it, I understand that the wellbeing of my child is not really the issue. Vaccinations are more about politics, big business, and the media.... But the well being of my children is MY primary issue. And the health and ability of my patients to make informed choices is MY great concern.

Help Unravelling Immunization Questions

Probably the first thing you will notice if you take the time to study issues surrounding vaccines is that there is very little middle ground. Most people are passionate and opinionated and fall neatly on one side or the other. Both sides have harnessed the fear factor by promoting the dangers of the oppositions point of view. Making decisions about vaccines feels more like politics than healthcare.

How do you balance out all this conflicting information about immunizations to get accurate information from a reliable source? I have been supporting parents in making choices with respect to healthcare for many years now and decisions regarding vaccinations are among the hardest. Here are a few insights about the process of making this challenging decision.

Part of the reason this choice is so hard is that there ARE very real risks no matter what you decide to do. Because of this it is important to realize that the weighing of risk to benefit is very individualized. Vaccines are probably the only prescription drug whose dose, schedule and administration is promoted by non medical personnel who are not trained to make healthcare decisions. Make sure you work with someone who is familiar with your child, knows personal and family medical history, and can advise you about the risk to benefit ratio of each vaccine vs. the natural disease. It is not appropriate to take medical advice about prescription medications for your child from non-medical personnel.

Secondly seek council from someone who can offer you a range of options. These may include alternatives to specific vaccines, delayed schedule, administration of limited or single vaccines, specific immune enhancement, etc. Providers who promote only 1 protocol are more likely to influence you to adopt their opinions and be unable to offer practical information about your range of options.

Lastly consider the worst scenario. If you DO have a problem, can your provider support you and offer appropriate care? Many people who experience vaccine reactions find that most physicians do not recognize vaccinosis and have no ability to treat it. Since many childhood diseases exist even in the vaccinated populations, vaccinated children who contract the diseases of childhood often go undiagnosed and without correct care. Similarly unvaccinated children are often misdiagnosed due to the assumption that only unimmunized children are vulnerable to these illnesses.

The word doctor comes from the Latin root 'to teach'. Successful healers trust that providing good information and supporting their patients in making good decisions about their family creates excellent health. When people ask me if I am for or against vaccines I reply that I am pro-education. Teaching about vaccines, health and the options available allow parents to feel empowered and confident about their choices. They also become fellow converts to a pro education stance that supports all parents in making excellent decisions based on the unique character of their individual child.