At our local Weston A. Price chapter meeting last week, a woman named Becky came up to reintroduce herself. A while back she told me that the hospital she works for was now making flu shots mandatory, and she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to let me know how that all turned out — you’ll be shocked!
You’ll also be amazed at how well written this letter is and how well thought out her arguments are.
Here’s Becky’s letter to the higher-ups at the hospital:
(Full name withheld), RN
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to formally defend my decision to decline the influenza vaccination. I have made this decision based on strong moral and ethical convictions that are supported by my religious beliefs, medical research and legal precedent.
Medical research indicates that the efficacy of the influenza vaccination is grossly exaggerated (1).
The British Medical Journal has questioned the validity of studies claiming efficacy and stated that “evidence from systemic reviews shows that inactivated vaccines have little or no effect on the effects measured.” (2)
Another journal has proven influenza vaccinations have not changed the amount of doctor visits or hospitalizations in children (3,4,5), and another shows that vaccinations have not impacted the mortality rate of the elderly population. (6,7)
There is also a lack of supporting evidence to show that vaccinating healthcare workers prevents influenza transmission. (8)
I believe that these vaccinations are providing a false sense of security and therefore putting our patients at risk.
An even greater risk exists for those that receive the vaccination. The CDC lists the following as being found in the influenza vaccination: Neomycin, Polymyxin B, formaldehyde or formalin, thimerosal, embryonated chicken eggs, egg albumin, gelatin, Gentamycin, Polyoxyethylene 9-10 Nonyl Phenol (Triton N-101, Octoxynol 9), chick kidney cells and Taurodeoxychoalate. (9)
Many of these are known carcinogens and detergents that have unknown effects on the human body. Chronic over exposure to antibiotics has also proven to be detrimental to overall health. (10)
Some of the potential side effects from the vaccination include anaphylaxis, allergic asthma, redness and discomfort at the injection site, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, vasculitis, body aches, paresthesia, neuopathy, seizure, facial palsy, facial paresis, Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, headache, sore throat, muscle aches, cough, chills, fever, encephalitis and meningitis. (11)
Thimerosal has been shown to potentially increase the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease, brain damage and nervous system injury. (12,13,14)
This is especially alarming to me as my grandfather passed away at the beginning of the year as a result of Alzheimer’s Disease. Package inserts also state that the vaccination/mist “has not been evaluated for carcinogenic or mutagenic potential or its potential to impair fertility.” This clearly states then that very little is known about the long-term health effects of receiving this vaccination. There is also no guarantee of protection from influenza or potential temporary or permanent injury or even death.
I believe that vaccination is an invasive medical procedure and based on the above, is an experimental procedure. While I support the hospital’s desire to maintain safety for both patients and staff, I cannot support the use of mandatory vaccinations to achieve this goal. The mandatory administration of this is in direct violation of the Nuremberg Code which states in article 1 that consent should be voluntary and allow for “free power of choice without the intervention of any element of force, fraud, deceit, duress, over-reaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or coercion.” Article 6 states, “the degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved by the experiment.” And article 9, “During the course of the experiment the human subject should be at liberty to bring the experiment to an end if he has reached the physical or mental state where continuation of the experiment seems to him to be impossible.” (15)
As a Christian I believe I am to treat my body with respect as it is a gift from God (see 2 Corinthians 7:1 and 1 Corinthians 6:19 and 20). I believe that destroying life and knowingly injecting myself with toxins is a contradiction to my beliefs and unacceptable. Health is of great importance to me and something that I do not take lightly. I choose to maintain my health by following The Weston A. Price Foundation’s recommendations on nutrition. 916)
I also adhere to regular exercise, proper vitamin D intake (17), adequate rest and stress management, and appropriate preventative health care. My desire is to continue to do the above and to partner with (hospital name withheld) in providing excellent patient care.
Sincerely,
(Full name withheld), RN (See references below.)
SUCCESS!
Becky was able to keep her job and not get the flu vaccine, pretty impressive, huh?!
A note from from Becky to all of you, my readers:
I was originally supposed to go before a committee from the hospital and defend my position, but we were unable to find a time that worked for all of us. The way the mandate is presented to the employees makes it seem as though the only exemptions they allow are medically based, and that even those are rare exemptions. You can be sure they don’t like to heavily advertise the fact that you can stand up for yourself and not follow their mandates. So in the end I presented this to the HR representative from the committee, who then brought it back to the committee and then contacted me. The meeting I had with him went well because I had prepared this calmly and rationally the night before, so if anyone is asking advice on how to approach a situation like this (besides with lots of prayer), clearly stated knowledge is the best thing you can have. The other thing that I learned from this is not only to arm yourself with knowledge, but to be consistent. That’s what the committee was looking for; they wanted to know that I hadn’t just grabbed this off the internet because it sounded like it might work. I want to encourage people that read this letter to make it their own. Please, feel free to use the ideas and references, but make sure it means something to you and put it into your own words. The chance of success will be better if there is palpable passion behind the words. And truly, for me, I wanted to know I had given it my all, even if I did lose my job.
If you have any similar stories to share, please do in the comments!
- More vaccine posts, including the story of how we made our own vaccine decisions
- Are you taking a daily dose of fermented cod liver oil, I hope?!
- 10 tips for building a healthy immune system
Check out these great references provided with the letter above:
1 Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006;1.
2 BMJ 2006;333:
3 Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008 Oct;162(10):943-51
4 Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008;2.
5 Arch Dis Child. 2004 Aug;89(8):734-5.
6 Lancet Infect Dis. 2007 Oct;7(10):658-66
7 Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2008 Sep 1;178(5):527-33. Epub 2008 Jun 12.
8 Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010 Feb 17;(2):CD005187
9 http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf accessed 12/11/11
10 http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/06/18/antibiotics-bacteria.aspx accessed 12/11/11
11 Package inserts for FluMist and Fluarix
12 Toxicological & Environmental Chemistry. 2009;91(4):735-49.
13 Cell Biol Toxicol. 2010 Apr;26(2):143-52. Epub 2009 Apr 9.
14 http://drtenpenny.com/should_flu.aspx accessed 12/11/11
15 http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/nuremberg.html accessed 12/11/11
16 http://www.westonaprice.org/ accessed 12/11/11
17 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2870528/ accessed 12/11/11
{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
Two words: BECKY ROCKS! No seriously, she does. I would know because she’s a dear friend of mine and she’s devoted herself to getting healthy personally, and now plans to help others do the same as a naturopath and chiropractic physician. She was able to claim this victory with her employer because she fought for her convictions. Well done, friend!
Congratulations Becky! Unfortunately in my neck of the woods, the outcome Becky had does not seem as likely. I work in a small hospital in Central IL, many of the major hospitals are firing employees (they have been notified) for failure to get vaccinated for influenza. At my hospital we had the option to present a medical or religious exemption and wear a mask if there was a flu outbreak. It sounds like next year I may not have that option. As it was presented to me I will have the choice to get the flu shot and contiue to work or not get the shot and lose my job. Unfortunately I don’t really have an option not to work and many hospitals are adding the flu shot into terms of employment with new hires. I would love to be able to stand up for what I believe in but it may not be possible, if I rock the boat, I may be targeted in another area and lose my job anyway.
Sarah, I am an RN in Central Illinois and face the exact same threats from Hopsital administration. So far, if I refuse the vaccination I must have physical exam and medical documentation stating the life-threatening contradiction. Then I must wear a mask at ALL TIMES when I am working, regardless of if I am symptomatic. I work in a newborn nursery and postpartum unit. New mothers are very suspicious of a worker in a mask and do not want me taking care of them or their babies. The hospital now says that the vaccination is mandatory NO MATTER WHAT! I feel so bullied. This is just creating a greater divide between the conventional medical community and the rest of us. This is exactly why my son hasn’t seen a doctor in 4 years because I always felt like I was being bullied and judged on my decisions. Sarah, just curious if we are near each other. Email me privately at coolcouchdogs@hotmail.com.
The mask policy is the same at the hospital my husband works at, and will be enforced next year. In my opinion, the whole mask thing is punitive, rather than a practical means to prevent flu, a version of a “dunce cap” meant to humiliate and make an example out of employees. That would seem to violate the Nuremberg Code as well. At the hospital my husband works at, the policy states that employees must have a written letter from their doctor stating why the flu vaccine is medically contra-indicated for them, or a letter from their pastor, explaining how receiving a flu vaccine is violating their religion. Ridiculous. We wonder, how is a person’s doctor or pastor more qualified than the individual him/herself, to make personal decisions for them? Becky’s letter inspires me, and makes me think that now is a good time to begin drafting our own letter, so that we are prepared in advance.
I put together a religious exemption to get my kids into public school. In Illinois, the religious exemption clearly states it does not have to be tied to the tenets of one’s church. I wonder what the law says in your state? If it is written the same way, your employer cannot enforce this policy.
This is SO crazy.
i can’t recall ever in my life getting a flu vaccine nor do i recall there being a big fuss over it. i also don’t recall ever getting the flu growing up except a handful of times. so in my 9 years at the hospital where i work (at an off-site office now) i have never gotten the flu vaccine nor been hassled about it until this last winter. i was notified by our employee health rn that beginning next year i will have to wear a mask if i opt out for the vaccine.
there is an outpatient clinic downstairs, but i am rarely down there. other than that, i have no direct contact with patients. i agree that the mask is more punitive than for preventive measures. i pray someone out there is brave enough to start this movement and reclaim our rights over our bodies WITHOUT APOLOGY!!!
thanks for the post – this one’s a goodie
This is fantastic. Well done, Becky. As a mother who will shortly be faced with another set of “required” vaccines, this gives me hope!
Has anyone done the same type of letter to present to our Dr’s so the kids don’t have to listen to me and the Doc argue about vaccinations? I’d love to send the Dr. one like this. Blessings, G
I wonder if this will make a difference. Many doctors do not own their own practices. They are employees of a larger company. They need to meet certain job performance goals, just like most of us in our jobs. Vaccination rates are part of those goals. Some of this gets back to insurance companies and is used for determining whether the doctor should still be in-network.
Even though there is discussion here about drug company profits, I think many people who set up these guidelines really think vaccines are the cure. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. (Most of the time I don’t understand that cliche, but it works in this case.)
Be sure to check out the links in this post for the whole story on how we handled that with our doctor:
http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/02/updates-on-our-vaccination-saga.html
Kelly
THANK YOU for posting this. I am an RN and thankfully the position I have is outside of the hospital setting and therefore does not REQUIRE a flu vaccine (in fact, many of the nurses in the office I work in never get the flu vaccine for a lot of the above reasons that Becky mentioned). I hope this will begin to set a precedence and give others the tools they need to stand up for their rights!
This is excellent, and a great encouragement to me, as my husband will be facing this issue head on next year with his job (in a hospital). Becky, you’re an inspiration, and I hope and pray that others will follow your proactive example, rather than bowing down to intimidation and threats and violating their own conscience.
This is part of a concerted effort to take away individual choice where it conflicts with the profits of the big drug companies. In addition to filling the body with deadly toxins, flu shots do nothing but spread the flu and provide profits for Big Pharma.
I remember when New York State mandated flu shots for all health care workers, the workers organized, and fought back, publicizing the dangers of the flu shots and the attack on their freedom of choice. The state backed off. Interestingly enough, the publicity this conflict caused convinced many New Yorkers not to get the flu shot, with vaccination rates in New York city being down to thirty percent. The rate of flu cases in New York City was very low that year. What a coincidence.
Becky, your wisdom and courage is inspiring !
Thank you for this. I’m sending a link to my friends in the health care industry who are facing similar threats.
wow!! awesome.. my wife is in the med field.. were planning our attack for when this hits her employer..awesome work becky!!
-jason and lisa-
One of the problems I face is the retaliation, if I rock the boat, I will guarantee I will be weeded out some other way even if I can overthrow the mandatory vaccination. Right or wrong, it happens, and I’m not in postition to jepardize my job. Also, I’m not sure that there is a law protecting us in IL from vaccinations…because they are in fact giving us a choice….choose vaccine retain job, I can refuse but it will also terminate my terms of employment.
@ Sarah: Hey, you were looking for a job when you found the one you’ve got, right? ! Well, there are all kinds of things a nurse can do besides work in a hospital. I imagine each individual State has their own policies, but nurses can always find self-employment opportunities. For instance, I provide infant day care. A couple of the babies I watch have neurological issues. One of them was a year old in mid-Fed (2012) and doesn’t yet hold his head up or even attempt to play with toys. I’ve repeatedly mentioned this fact to the Mom since the baby was about 6 months old and showed no signs of rolling over or wanting to crawl after a toy, etc. This baby is obviously not getting any respect from the pediatrician (who has said nothing to the Mom about being concerned with the child’s lack of motor skills) so I advised her to look around for a nurse or retired nurse who could also serve as a day care provider whilst working with the child on physical therapy type issues or whatever. March 2 is his last day here.
And then there’s the other end of the spectrum. When my Mother was still living, I had a heckuva time trying to find someone to help me with some of her basic daily needs. She was in assisted living but I needed someone to check her BP every morning, make sure she took her 2 meds and a few supplements, and weigh her. Assisted living provided none of those “extras”. I run my own business and could not be there on weekday mornings, but I handled the weekends or holidays.
So, there are other options, you just need to find / create them. Tell the hospitals to kiss off. When they start losing all their personnel, it might start opening a few eyeballs.
D…. your ideas sound great, if I lived in an a city they would probably be very realistic. But….I have no desire to be self-employed (grew up in family owned business). My town is less than 4K people….not a whole lot of oppourtunities for what you write about. I finally have a job close to home (used to travel 60 miles to work 1 way).
Oh hey, my SIL is a newly retired RN and they live in a town of about 850 people. She has no problem staying busy and well paid. Lots of the older folks there have children who don’t live in the area who are more than willing to pay someone to help keep a watchful eye on their parents health and safety. When she was planning her retirement she had no idea she’d find a niche market, which actually sorta happened by accident.
My brother is a veterinarian who has been trying to retire for a decade already, but the area ranchers are so dependent on him he just can’t. And he has never learned to say no to them. He was looking forward to my SIL retiring so she could help him! She fooled him though!
I’m so glad your protest worked! Hopefully it will give many others the courage to do the same thing and word will get around how unsafe flu vaccines are. Kudos on a job well done!
I think another question for people to ask their employers is whether they are willing to accept liability for mandating a vaccine. If they are forcing people to get it, they are responsible for the short-term and long-term effects that may result. Seems to me like they are asking for lawsuits. If they won’t listen to people’s basic rights, maybe they will listen to a bottom-line argument.
The pharma companies, hospitals, doctors, clinics, ER’s, etc., HAVE NO LIABILITY. They were recently exempted from any form of liability in regard to any “effects” which might result from vaccinations or any other drug. It’s not easy to find the truth about this information, but it’s out there.
Here’s a quote from an article I found from Feb 2011: “The law says in part that no vaccine manufacturer shall be held liable for a vaccine-related injury or death “if the injury or death resulted from side effects that were unavoidable even though the vaccine was properly prepared and was accompanied by proper directions and warnings.”
Products liability law establishes three grounds for potential liability – if there is a defect in the manufacture, if there were inadequate warnings, or if there is a defective design.”
Taken from this link: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2011/0222/Parents-can-t-sue-drug-firms-when-vaccines-cause-harm-Supreme-Court-says
The trouble with that last sentence is that they’re ALL defective by design!
I know the pharma companies are not held liable, but I’m not sure this would translate to an employer that forces people to be vaccinated. With pharma companies or doctors providing vaccines, there is still the assumption of informed consent.
Amy, the way I understand it is the employer is not held liable because they are infact giving employees a choice. It kind of reminds me of a forced consent….they’re not going to hold you down and give you the shot, they’re making an offer (keeping your job) many can’t refuse. Ultimately though it is still a choice….by choosing to work for the company you will get vaccinated.
I may be wrong here, but what do you think “mandatory” means? Mandatory means you take the shot or you don’t have a job, not you have a lesser job, right?
In this case it means they give you a choice but they give you no choice? I mean, really – it’s take the shot or lose the job you HAD. That’s not really a choice. They are not, in fact, giving you a choice. Even if they agree to move you to a “different” job, you can bet it will be a crap job – so you’ll be employed but you’ll probably have to take a cut in pay and whatever else just to keep any job. Yeah, that’s really not a choice. The hospital knows it, the drug manufacturer knows it, and the court system knows it. They put a lot of time and effort into figuring out how to play the system.
If they were giving you a choice to take the shot or NOT (and it doesn’t affect your job) that’s a true choice. But I suppose they are getting away with this, legally, because the court system already knows how to play that game, too.
I still think there’s room for a lawsuit in this. After all, they cannot “prove” that the flu shot is necessary to do your job properly so it shouldn’t stand up in court if a really good lawyer took the case (and the judges aren’t fixed, etc, etc.)
It is not that the flu shot is necessary for us to do our job. They say it is for the protection of their patients, that we do not spread the virus to them.
Right, I get that, I just thought that in order to force something as a condition of employment you had to show that it was necessary to do the job (i.e., justifying not hiring someone with disabilities for a job requiring heavy lifting). Not sure of what loopholes may exist, though. But it’s pretty easy to dispute the proof that patients need this to be protected, if you had a good lawyer. Even the threat of a lawsuit might make an employer back down. I once had a job in HR, and the company would go to great lengths to shut down any possibility of a lawsuit. I would think unions would be helpful here, too.
Amy,
Vaccines are not mandated at my hospital (yet) but a co-worker had a reaction to a TDaP (the new tetnus, diptheria whooping cough vaccine for adults). She was at work, reacted and was sent ot the ER. The hospital would not pay for her ER visit because when she signed consent for the va cine, she also was signing a release of of liability for any adverse reactions.
Employee Health at my hospital also gave a different co-worker the Flu vaccine instead of the TB skin test (a med error). They were not in any way liable/responsible either. So far, other than a localized reaction, there was no adverse response. I would have beeen livid–since the staff nurses are constantly preached to about avoiding med errors and are continually given new procedures to use to minimize them.
When I go for my TB test now, I ask to see the bottle and watch them draw it up.
J inVA
Yikes, I would not ever sign that consent form. So disturbing.
Fantastic post, thanks to becky and kelly. I have come across a similar letter for parents refusing their child’s vaccine…cant remember where…basically the letter says that the dr. Is responsible for any and all adverse reactions….the parent brought the letter to the doctor and as of course the dr. Would not sign the parent would not vax….sorrythis is vague, if i find the details i will repost
(Continued from above…) “Not sure if I should stay and fight and lose my pension or resign before it hits next year. I want to stay and fight, but I have an adopted daughter I am rasing and need to think about her. I hear that no one is hiring people 50 years and older. Ignorantly, I took the flu shot one time in 22 years. I was sick for 2 months. Headache, nasusea, everyday. That’s when I started to investigate what was in the shots. When I found out, I asked my Father in heaven to forgive me for putting such toxic chemicals in my body. I haven’t taken any shots again. When H1N1 was mass produced I read that aborted fetal cells were used to put this serum together. I need guidance and prayers if anyone can assist me in that way!
My comments to her: I really wonder if it wouldn’t be smart to consult an attorney… Maybe the one that is working with the Stieler family…?
That’s a really interesting idea, Kelly! She obviously should never get another flu shot again–with the severe reaction she had in the past, who knows what it might do next. I would think it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a Dr. who would write out an exemption recommendation (or whatever it’s called) for her, and surely her employers couldn’t argue with that! My husband will be facing this issue next year and he too has had only one flu shot in his life, which resulted in the worst flu he’s ever had. For that reason, and many others (not the least of which is the amount of horrendous toxins in the vaccine) he refuses to ever have another one. Of course the policy at his workplace is that it’s either a flu shot or having to wear a mask, which of course looks unprofessional, and is surely meant as a punitive measure (dunce cap) to humiliate an employee into getting the shot. I don’t think he’d wear a mask for months either, so we’ll see what happens!
Why would it be “unprofessional” for your DH to wear a face mask? I wear one every single day, almost all day long and no one has ever said anything humiliating to me. If it was a choice between wearing a mask and shooting toxins into my body, it wouldn’t even require any thought. And so what if it’s meant as a “punitive measure”? He’s protecting himself – and he can laugh all the way home every night!
Sometimes no matter what you do you’re going to get the flu. It’s a fact of life. I haven’t had it in years, but if I ever get it I think of it as nature’s way of recharging my immune system. Not a bad trade-off, really.
Maybe unprofessional was the wrong word…out of place for his area of work is more like it. He spends part of his day in management, and the other part treating patients–he’s both a therapist and department manager, and spends a portion of his day in meetings with administration, doctors, therapists, and others as well. Unless a therapist is treating a patient who is in a special circumstance (where everyone who sees them must gown up), it would be pretty unusual. The management areas of the job involve a lot of relational/communication aspects and having his face covered every day, all day, for the entire flu season would certainly be unnatural and could be very awkward at times.
I agree that no matter what we do, we can get the flu–I always think that touching grocery carts, or the payment machines at the checkout at the grocery store are probably more common culprits, not walking past people in hospitals.
The rule at my workplace is that you must wear a mask if you are within 3 feet of a patient. So perhaps it might not involve wearing one all day? I know institutions vary widely on their policies; I read a lot of them while researching, and there are some out there that state you have to wear a mask at all times for the flu season. Just an interesting thought on transmission of the flu…I’ve read that there are some studies out there that suggest the ear canal is the entry point for influenza and colds into the body. So maybe our patients should be wearing ear muffs?? ;o) Kidding of course, but my point is, I’m not sure how effective or what the point of mask wearing all day is (unless you truly are ill, but then I would hope you wouldn’t be at work). I agree with you that it seems like a punitive measure to mandate mask wearing and would like to see studies that solidly support all of these institutions’ policies. Proper hygiene practices? Yes. Empowering your staff to be able to call in sick when they are ill? Yes please! In my perfect world, I would love to see staff and hospital management be able to interact as a team, where questioning attitudes are encouraged and the goal is the same for both parties– safe patient care and healthy staff members who are appreciated and valued. And to me, being appreciated and valued means not being punitive when a staff member has valid reason for not complying with a harmful mandate. So much of this falls back on education and being willing to look beyond the way it has always been done, in my opinion. The more we live out what we believe and encourage continued learning, the more people will hopefully see, question, understand and put into practice in their own lives.
So agreed! The earmuff thing is funny! Actually, it would be interesting to research and include THAT (or earplugs or something similar) in a letter explaining why you choose to opt out. Maybe even making a proposal for a more effective way of preventing transmission! Hilarious! As we understand it, the rule where he works would translate to wearing a mask at all times throughout the flu season, whether symptoms are present or not. If he wasn’t so busy with so many responsibilities with his job, and if he had a more defiant personality, the mask thing might even be a creative vehicle for protest. Unfortunately, the insane amount of work and long hours he puts in to get everything done doesn’t leave much time and energy for idealistic protests. The bummer is that with all of the federal cuts to healthcare reimbursement (medicare), healthcare is getting more and more difficult and even thankless in many ways to remain in (greater demands with less financial reward), and policies like these can be the tipping point for many healthcare workers to leave it all behind. I believe that these policies will do nothing but contribute to the healthcare crisis.
I understand exactly what you are saying. It’s sad how “traditional” healthcare is killing itself. That is, in part, what lead me to pursue integrated medicine. I can see how the current system is letting us all down and want to be a part of making a better way.
I wish you and your husband the best when it comes time to make decisions for the next influenza season!
Both my daughters work in hospitals…where my older daughter works, they forced her to get the flu and pneumonia vaccine or else she’d get fired. Where my younger daughter works, it was up to her if she wanted to get it. She opted to get it and wound up getting sick anyway. Last time I got the flu and pneumonia shot, I wound up in the hospital with pneumonia. I agree that she should contact a lawyer, but even if she wins her case, the hospital might retaliate and look for other ways to fire her.
Thanks so much for this. Bookmarking under “Very Important Resources”. My husband is a resident in family medicine and is also “mandated” to get the vax. Last year he fought it — and it took hours and hours out of his already ridiculously busy schedule. This year, he caved (I was disappointed for sure, but I understood his reluctance to fight again). Within a month or two of the shot, he got a terribly bad flu. He otherwise doesn’t get sick. He hasn’t used sick days in all the time that I’ve known him EXCEPT seven years ago when (before we knew the truth about vaccines) his employers offered a free flu vax. That year too he suffered from a horrible flu. This junk clearly affects his immune system and he knows he will not cave again. Thanks for the helpful resource of your letter. It will also serve as our kids grow should we need to defend our right to refuse vaccinations.
Many thanks to you both for sharing!
I agree, Kelly. Michael Farris usually only works on parental rights cases, but it’s worth a try–at least he might be able to point her in the right direction.
Great letter, will have to add to my kit bag for next year.
this kind of makes me laugh and not in a good way. My mother was a nurse and a midwife for 20 years in the UK and then in america and she only just recently got her FIRST tetnus shot. Vaccinations in hospitals were never manditory before.
excellent letter!
The sad part is that the hospital likely backed down ONLY after reading the “religious beliefs” paragraph.
The fact that religion trumps all medical facts and science in our country is simply pathetic.
I am an RN in ICU in Metro-Detroit. I was given the option of getting the shot or not getting the job (I am doing agency right now, but at my former hospital same thing). I think it is ridiculous! THey also pressure us to pressure the flu and pneumonia vaccinations on our patients. I ask if they want it and if they refuse I just document refusal. I never give my opinion but I never encourage it either. I cannot get in trouble for doing what the patient wants!
Should be a personal choice.
I had the. Flu shot about 13 years ago and got sosick thought I was going todie then read the letter and it has neomycin which is a. Sulfa drug I’m ALLERGIC my doc knew I was allergic to sulfa I’m not takingany more vaccines ever trying to convince my daughter not to let them vaccinate her children
Bravo Becky!! You have set yourself apart by putting action behind your words. It takes great courage and conviction to stand up for right principals and you surely have both.
May this letter be used by many as a template to stand against intimidating and misleading vaccine policies and demonstrate that there is a better way to maintain good health.
I’m fighting the same battle now, but in regard to mandatory testing for TB with the Tubersol vaccine which contains potentially harmful additives of polysorbate 80 and phenol. I was told it is not an option, it is a requirement. They will not even consider any other form of testing. Tb is not a problem in this area, and I have not been exposed. Our entire dep’t is scheduled to be tested in April, 2012. We will see where this goes, when I refuse to sign the consent form. This may end up in court for coercion or unlawful termination…..
Please keep us posted on this!
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