Pediatrician Not Pushing Vaccinations

There's a yahoo group called "slow or no vax moms" or similar, they're based in the bay area and can give suggestions. Or I'd ask a chiropractor, most MDs that work with DCs are usually pretty liberal. Good for you researching what's best for your family and realizing it might not be what so-called everyone else agrees with!

Dr. DeVilliers in Los Gatos who is with First Care Pediatrics.

My previoius pediatrician refused to discuss delayed schedulea, or the need of certain vacinations....she was completey shut-down on discussion. I'm not anti vaccination; however, I want a pediatrician who can discuss with me in detail the slew of shots that are mandatory. Dr. Devilliers is brilliant in discussing with you your concerns as well as her recommendations. She will also give you recommendaitons based on real cases she is seeing in her office. She will also tell you the ones you can easily skip on. She is phenomenal, very warm....and we love her!

S.

Given that California is in the middle of a pertussis epidemic this maybe harder to find. I know many docs worry about the liability of having unvaccinated kids in the waiting room with possible pertussis/measles etc patients sitting next to them. Last time I checked California has had 8 deaths due to pertussis this year. This isn't something the doctor is going to take litely if they feel it opens them up to malpractice. Remember California has some of the highest rates of malpractice in the country. So it's a reasonable fear. You have the right to opt out of vaccines for your family, but many doctors are not going to let your rights interfere with their ability to make a living. They have their own families to worry about. By the way most of us in health care, especially those caring for kids, have been REQUIRED to reimmunize ourselves against pertussis to protect our patients.

I respect your decision not to vaccinate your children. However, did you know that the current epidemic of whooping cough is mostly due to the large number of children that are not vaccinated? And did you know that whooping cough can be a fatal illness, particularly in infants under two months? You will be putting your children, and other children, at risk for illnesses that were common in the 50's, but were almost wiped out through our childhood immunization program. If you are worried about autism, many studies, not just ones done by the drug makers, have found that immunizations do not cause autism. Talk to your doctor about spacing out the immunizations so that your children do not get so many in one day.

Call Blue Cross, and ask for a list of pediatricians who follows this kind of standard. If they don't have any, maybe you should ask why they selected pediatricians that way.

M.

Pediatric Alternatives in Mill Valley (Marin) is great. Check em out.