Some Pediatricians Drop Families Who Refuse Vaccinations

Here's a question that pits parental rights against medical ethics: If parents refuse to have their children vaccinated, is it ethical for a pediatrician to drop them as patients?

The number of parents who refuse to get their kids vaccinated is on the rise and a new study out this month suggests that a substantial minority of doctors "dismiss" these families from their practice.

Carey Goldberg, co-host of WBUR's CommonHealth blog, wrote this week about vaccine refusal, which has bedeviled pediatricians for years.

"Persuading reluctant patients to vaccinate has become a huge time-sink in many practices," Goldberg wrote. "No matter how many scientific studies come out exonerating vaccines of any role in the autism epidemic and touting the good they do, many parents continue to fear the shots."

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