The case for suing parents who don’t vaccinate their kids—or criminally charging them

[w1z4rd]

Endangering the Herd

What if a mother decided not to vaccinate her daughter for measles, based on rumors that the vaccine causes autism, and her daughter gets the disease at the age of 4 and passes it to a 1-year-old, who is too young for the vaccine, at her day care center. And what if that baby dies?

That’s the sad scenario, more or less, of a Season 10 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. And it’s the hypothetical case study in a provocative paper in the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics that explores whether there’s a case for holding people legally accountable for the damage they cause by not vaccinating their children. “One can make a legitimate, state-sanctioned choice not to vaccinate,” the bioethicist Arthur L. Caplan and his co-authors write, “but that does not protect the person making that choice against the consequences of that choice for others.” Since epidemiologists today can reliably determine the source of a viral infection, the authors argue, a parent who decides not to vaccinate his kid and thus endangers another child is clearly at fault and could be charged with criminally negligent homicide or sued for damages.

As you’d expect, the growing anti-vaccination movement responded in fury. After Caplan wrote a related post for the Harvard Law Blog, angry comments poured in. “This article is industry propaganda at its worst,” one commenter declared. Another wrote: “Caplan would have familiar company in fascist Germany.” The blog eventually shut down the comments for violations of the site’s policies against “abusive and defamatory language” and the sharing of personal information.

Here’s why the anti-vaxxers are wrong and Caplan and his co-authors are right to raise the idea of suing or criminally charging them: Parents who choose not to vaccinate their kids for reasons of personal belief pose a serious danger to the public.

Measles vaccines are about 95 percent effective when given to children. That leaves a 5 percent chance that kids who are vaccinated will contract measles. This means that no matter what, the disease still poses a public health risk, but we rely on others to get vaccinated to hugely reduce the likelihood of outbreaks. That’s the process known as herd immunity.

Unvaccinated children threaten the herd. Take the San Diego measles outbreak of 2008. After unknowingly contracting the disease on a trip to Switzerland, an unvaccinated 7-year-old boy infected 11 other unvaccinated kids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of the cases occurred in kids whose parents had requested personal belief exemptions (or PBEs) through the state of California, one of 17 states to allow them. But three of the infected were either too young or medically unable to be vaccinated. And overall, 48 children too young to be vaccinated were quarantined, at an average cost to the family of $775 per child. The CDC noted that all 11 cases were “linked epidemiologically” to the 7-year-old boy and that the outbreak response cost the public sector $10,376 per case.

Today, several states blame a rise in preventable diseases on the declining child vaccination rates. In Michigan, less than 72 percent of children have received their state-mandated measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines. In New York, as Caplan noted in his blog post, pockets of Brooklyn’s Hasidic Jewish community are experiencing a mini measles epidemic. Thirty cases have been confirmed so far. According to Dr. Yu Shia Lin of Maimonides Medical Center, some members of the community avoid the measles vaccine because they think it causes autism. The most visible proponent of this idea, former Playboy Playmate Jenny McCarthy, will receive a giant new platform for her viewpoints when she joins the daytime gossipfest The View on Sept. 9.
The belief that the MMR vaccine causes autism goes back to a 1998 study published in the Lancet by a British gastroenterologist named Andrew Wakefield. In 2010, after years of criticism, the journal finally retracted Wakefield’s study, announcing that it was “utterly clear, without any ambiguity at all, that the statements in the paper were utterly false.” Britain’s General Medical Council later revoked Wakefield’s medical license, noting that he’d failed to disclose his role as a paid consultant to lawyers representing parents who thought vaccines had harmed their kids. The CDC makes clear there is no connection between vaccines and autism.

Yet this dangerous idea persists. Often, it persists among people who are simply doing what they think is best for their kids. Which is why it’s necessary to take extra measures to ensure nonvaccinators understand the risk they pose to other people’s children.

Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, a professor of law at UC Hastings College of the Law and author of the blog Before Vaccines, argues in support of Caplan and his co-authors that if you fail to take reasonable precautions to prevent your child from transmitting a deadly virus to another child, you should bear the cost of that risk. If the government doesn’t impose liability, it is giving anti-vaxxer parents a free pass for posing a danger.
There should be exceptions, of course. A child may be too young to receive a vaccine or may be undergoing a medical treatment like chemotherapy that prevents vaccines from working. A vaccine shortage or lack of access to a medical facility would legally excuse a parent for not vaccinating.

There are legal obstacles to penalizing parents who don’t vaccinate their kids. Courts are generally less likely to impose liability on someone who fails to act than they are on someone who acts recklessly. Also, proving cause and effect will sometimes be difficult. Then again, to win damages, a plaintiff would only have to prove that it’s “more likely than not” that a nonvaccinated child infected another person.

Parents who don’t vaccinate their kids may have the most heartfelt reason in the world: fear for their own children’s safety. But the basis for that fear is simply unfounded, and their decisions are putting other kids directly at risk. The bottom line is that the government’s interest in protecting children from getting the measles should trump parents’ interest in making medical decisions for their kids. The creators of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit seem to agree. The name of the episode in which a little girl dies as a result of a mother’s refusal to immunize her son? “Selfish.”

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...ir_kids_should_be_sued_or.html?wpsrc=upworthy

Do you think that people who dont vaccinate and endanger everyone else should be held accountable?

 

[Naks]

Do you think that people who dont vaccinate and endanger everyone else should be held accountable?

Yes, they should be charged with child abuse.

 

[googoodoll]

No. Accountable for what? Their children catching a disease?

 

[googoodoll]

Yes, they should be charged with child abuse.

That's not abuse. Might be negligence but not abuse. The parent is in charge of the well-being of the child and if they believe the right thing is not to vaccinate them then that's their choice to make.

 

[OrbitalDawn]

That's not abuse. Might be negligence but not abuse. The parent is in charge of the well-being of the child and if they believe the right thing is not to vaccinate them then that's their choice to make.

The point being their choice not to vaccinate affects those around them, too. Did you read the OP?

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/547373-Do-you-think-forcing-vaccination-is-ethical

 

[KalMaverick]

Do you think that people who dont vaccinate and endanger everyone else should be held accountable?

Should a person riding 50km/h be held accountable for an accident on the basis of speeding if the limit is 60km/h?

Unless a vaccination is compulsory by law then as with the above it would not make sense to be able to hold them accountable, however if it is compulsory by law then I suppose they can/should be.

a parent who decides not to vaccinate his kid and thus endangers another child is clearly at fault and could be charged with criminally negligent homicide or sued for damages.

The very same can happen with a vaccinated child (as stated in the article the measles vaccine is only 95% effective)?

Will they be held responsible as well? I doubt it.

Then what basis would the non-vaccinated held accountable on? The fact they didn't get a vaccine they didn't have to?

Nah, sounds like wishful thinking more than anything I think. I also seriously doubt you will see any cases of 'criminal negligence' either.

 

[froot]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_...ir_kids_should_be_sued_or.html?wpsrc=upworthy

Do you think that people who dont vaccinate and endanger everyone else should be held accountable?

When I read "suing" and "parents" in one sentence, I thought the worst... Humberto

 

[noxibox]

Should a person riding 50km/h be held accountable for an accident on the basis of speeding if the limit is 60km/h?

People who drive below the speed limit should be treated the same as those who drive over it.

Unless a vaccination is compulsory by law then as with the above it would not make sense to be able to hold them accountable, however if it is compulsory by law then I suppose they can/should be.

It would be consistent with holding people responsible for the consequences of knowing negligence.

The very same can happen with a vaccinated child (as stated in the article the measles vaccine is only 95% effective)?
Will they be held responsible as well? I doubt it.

But then the parents have taken all reasonable precautions. If I leave my gun lying around, my child takes it to school and shoots a few children am I at fault? What if I had locked it away?

The article also mentions herd immunity, which what is required to maximise vaccine effectiveness.

Nah, sounds like wishful thinking more than anything I think. I also seriously doubt you will see any cases of 'criminal negligence' either.

I think we might see civil cases and they'd be in line with other liability cases.

Do you think that people who dont vaccinate and endanger everyone else should be held accountable?

It's a difficult one because it can become a slippery slope.

 

[googoodoll]

People who drive below the speed limit should be treated the same as those who drive over it.

Its called a speed limit not a compulsory speed.

 

[Wasp_21]

So who do i claim compensation from or lay charges against when my child gets Autisim from the MMR vac? Not gonna happen. Can i then sue anyone who had Flu which causes a respitory infection which causes the death of my kid? WTF. Why not remove ALL choice in life and then there is no room to argue. I think that works well in modern society???

 

[HapticSimian]

So who do i claim compensation from or lay charges against when my child gets Autisim from the MMR vac? Not gonna happen. Can i then sue anyone who had Flu which causes a respitory infection which causes the death of my kid? WTF. Why not remove ALL choice in life and then there is no room to argue. I think that works well in modern society???

[video=youtube;jfheO9H8CD4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfheO9H8CD4[/video]

Yourself, for being a moron.

 

[googoodoll]

How about all girls have to shave their hair off so that they don't spread lice around?

 

[STS]

I counter your argument not that i disagree with vaccination, but what if the Law and order episode had vaccinations as compulsory, and a child died from the vaccination?

This was my biggest beef in the other thread. I am all for vaccinations and killing a disease off, but i expected more than "ag shame" when i mentioned that there are parents who have kids die from vaccinations.

again, i'll post the side effects of a vaccine, and why you cannot FORCE somebody to do this to their child

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/side-effects.htm

You can argue that the risk of getting these disease are greater than the actual damage done by a vaccine, but there is no guarantee that they will ever encounter the disease or pick it up in their life time.

I can approach 10 people, tell them i have a vaccine for measles, and 1 in the 10 kids die after having it administered to them. in this case, i think it is important that it was the parents decision, and i expect more from the pro-vaccination people than "oh well, oops."

i am pro-vaccination, but show a little humanity to EVERYONE

 

[STS]

And here is the side effects of the smallpox vaccine:

 ACAM2000 may cause serious heart problems called myocarditis and pericarditis, or swelling
of the heart tissues. In studies, about 1 in every 175 persons who got the vaccine for the first time
may have experienced myocarditis and/or pericarditis. On rare occasions these conditions can result
in an irregular heart beat and death.

Because the vaccine has a live virus, it can spread to other parts of your body or to other
people if you touch the vaccination site and then touch other parts of your body or other
people. The vaccine virus can spread until the vaccination scab falls off (2 to 4 weeks after
vaccination). If the virus is spread to a person who should not get the vaccine, the side effects
can be very serious and life-threatening.

i understand vaccines help people, but a healthy, hygienic society is better overall and vaccinations are a temporary solution. you cannot get sick if you are not exposed to the disease, and if people are quicker to remove these sick people from society, you prevent the overall infection.

edit: vaccines do not cause autism, tho i have seen deafness listed as a possible side effect for some

 

[HapticSimian]

/snip

Ever read Disprin's package insert? Scary stuff...

I don't think one can make a reasonable argument for mandating vaccination (or much of anything not directly harmful to others, really) through legislation. However, I'll exercise my right to consider you a moron if you share most everyone's easy access to information in this age and you still neglect or refuse to have your children vaccinated.

 

[googoodoll]

I don't think people can poop in their pants about vaccination when every second person driving on the road is busy texting or talking on their cellphone while driving and endangering everyone around them.

 

[BobsLawnService]

I think that education and not legislation is the answer here.

I hate the current trend of creating laws that are impossible to enforce for everything.

Also, vaccines may have a few potential side effects but the diseases they protect against have killed millions of babies and children. It is all about perspective which is something the filthy hippies tend to ignore in their self-righteous fury.

 

[STS]

I don't think people can poop in their pants about vaccination when every second person driving on the road is busy texting or talking on their cellphone while driving and endangering everyone around them.

Disease and idiocy are two different things unfortunately, your kid HAS to go to school with other kids but you don't need to drive

 

[Jab]

So who do i claim compensation from or lay charges against when my child gets Autisim from the MMR vac?

Not gonna happen.

That's right, vaccines don't cause autism.

 

[Naks]

.. your kid HAS to go to school with other kids but you don't need to drive

Not really.

It would be easy enough to enforce a law that mandates vaccination for all school-attending children.