Vaccine Links

Vaccine Policy Statement

We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent serious illness and save lives. We firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines. We firmly believe that all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

We firmly believe, based on all available literature, evidence and current studies, that vaccines do not cause autism or developmental disabilities. We firmly believe that thimerosal; a preservative that has been used in vaccines for decades does not cause autism or other developmental disabilities.

We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. The recommended vaccines and their schedule are the results of decades of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.

These things being said, we recognize that there has always been and will likely always be controversy surrounding vaccination. The vaccine campaign is truly victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that we are even discussing whether or not they should be given. Because of vaccines, many of you have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis or even chickenpox.

Over the past several years, many people in Europe have chosen not to vaccinate their children with the Measles/Mumps/Rubella vaccine after publication of an unfounded suspicion (later retracted) that the vaccine caused autism. As a result of underimmunization, there have been outbreaks of measles and several deaths from complications of Measles in Europe. More recently in the United States, there have been similar small outbreaks of Mumps and Measles.

We are making you aware of these facts not to scare you, but to emphasize the importance of vaccinating your child. We recognize that the choice may be a very emotional one for some parents. We will do everything we can to convince you that vaccinating according to the current schedule is the right thing to do. However, should you have doubts, please discuss these with your health care provider in advance of your visit. In some cases, we may alter the schedule to accommodate parental concerns or reservations. We do not “break up vaccines” into their separate components in this office. Also, delaying vaccines to give one or two at a time goes against expert recommendation and will require additional visits and co-pays on your part. Furthermore, please realize that refusing to vaccinate or delaying immunizations will require you to sign a “Refusal to Vaccinate” form to keep on file in our office.

As medical professionals, we feel very strongly that vaccinating children on schedule with currently available vaccines is absolutely the right thing to do. Please recognize that by not vaccinating you are putting your child and potentially other children at unnecessary risk for life-threatening illness. Thank you for your time in reading this policy, and please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us.

Vaccine Policy Statement (as PDF)