Families may dismiss vaccines, but they still deserve care Niran Al

After my previous column I received a few emails from readers that posed an ethical dilemma. They asked if I have ever considered not treating patients who became sick with a vaccine-preventable disease, such as measles, whooping cough, or chicken pox. To be honest, the question has never crossed my mind. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to address it in a column as our national intolerance seems at an all-time high.

The American Medical Association states that “a physician should not refuse a patient simply because the individual is not vaccinated or declines to be vaccinated.” However, The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) disagrees, supporting the practice of discharging patients who refuse to vaccinate their children. Today, more than 50% of pediatric practice