By Beatrice Brown A recent BMJ article has exposed ethical concerns with the informed consent process in the World Health Organization’s (WHO) large, randomized cluster trial of the world’s first licensed malaria vaccine, RTS,S, known as Mosquirix. The study is being conducted in Malawi, Ghana, and Kenya, and 720,000 children will receive the vaccine. The…
By Patricia Illingworth and Wendy E. Parmet On May 19th of last year, Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez died of the flu while being held in a cell by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in south Texas. He was just 16, a migrant from Guatemala. Hours before his death, when his fever spiked to 103, a nurse suggested that…
By Robert Field The influenza virus gained an important ally during the past few weeks: the Trump Administration. If you have been rooting for a widespread and virulent flu epidemic this winter, several of its new immigration policies should give you reason to cheer. The first bit of good news for flu fans is a…
By Dorit Reiss On June 13, 2019 New York repealed the religious exemption from its school immunization mandates. While the actual repeal went fast – the bill passed the Assembly health committee, the Assembly floor, the Senate floor and the Governor’s office on the same day – the bill has been in the process since…
The ban on unvaccinated kids in public spaces seems like a drastic step, but it is the culmination of extensive efforts to stem a large outbreak created by anti-vaccine misinformation.
By Dorit Reiss The Second Appellate District’s Court of Appeal upheld the California law that removed California’s Personal Belief Exemption (PBE) from school immunization requirements earlier this month. The decision is a strong endorsement of immunization mandates and is binding on all state courts until another appellate decision is handed down, or the Supreme Court…
By Nicholas J. Diamond On June 28, the State of New York Court of Appeals upheld a New York City Board of Health requirement that children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old attending city-regulated child care or school-based programs receive flu vaccinations. While New York City is no stranger to progressive public…
By Dorit Reiss, Stanley A. Plotkin, Paul A. Offit A new tactic has emerged in a few recent family law vaccination cases: using arguments created by the anti-vaccine movement. Lack of familiarity with anti-vaccine claims can trip up even the most qualified expert. But a new resource library at the Vaccine Education Center at the…
By Clíodhna Ní Chéileachair Last year Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) refused free vaccinations for pneumonia from Pfizer, who had offered the medicines as a corporate donation to the humanitarian organisation. The explanation MSF provided (available here) makes for an interesting, if uncomfortable read. Looming large is the lengthy history of negotiations between MSF with the…
By Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research It’s a rainy day on the East Coast; what better way to get through the damp than four new legal epidemiology articles? Our colleagues have published papers examining vaccine policies, telehealth reimbursement policies, scope of practice laws for health care providers, and the field of legal…
