American Academy of Pediatrics

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COVID-19 vaccine liability – new information after FDA approval

This article about COVID-19 vaccine liability was written by Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Professor of Law at the University of California Hastings College of the Law (San Francisco, CA), who is a frequent contributor to this and many other blogs, providing in-depth, and intellectually stimulating, articles about vaccines, medical issues, social policy, and the law.

Professor Reiss writes extensively in law journals about the social and legal policies of vaccination. Additionally, Reiss is also a member of the Parent Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, a parent-led organization that supports and advocates for on-time vaccination and the reduction of vaccine-preventable disease. She is also a member of the Vaccines Working Group on Ethics and Policy.

A number of questions have come up around COVID-19 vaccine liability. I previously addressed the general framework for liability. In this article, I will try to outline how individuals may be liable for potential harm from COVID-19 vaccines especially in light of the recent FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine.

Also, this short post addresses a bit of misinformation that appears to have come up from anti-vaccine sources.

Pediatric flu vaccine – 10 important facts for parents

Along with the HPV vaccine, the pediatric flu vaccine has one of the lowest uptakes amongst children’s vaccinations – only around 40% of American children receive the vaccine. Unfortunately, a lot of this ignorance of the flu vaccine may result from an assumption that the flu is just not that serious of a disease. That thinking puts children at risk.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) posted an article on their website, “10 Things for Parents to Know About the 2017-2018 Flu Vaccine,” which gives some information about the pediatric flu vaccine. We’re going to give this list the feathery dinosaur’s treatment with a bit more pointed commentary and links. Because everyone loves links.Read More »Pediatric flu vaccine – 10 important facts for parents

Hepatitis B vaccine – new recommendations for vaccinating infants

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is now recommending that infants receive their first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine within 24 hours of birth. This recommendation is in line with the guidance of the CDC.

Hepatitis B is a serious disease that is easily preventible with the vaccine. Yet, the hepatitis B vaccine is one of the most vilified of the vaccines by the anti-vaccine crowd.

This article will take a look at hepatitis B, the vaccine, and some of the nonsensical claims of the anti-vaccine world.Read More »Hepatitis B vaccine – new recommendations for vaccinating infants

Circumcision–separating science from opinion

by Michael Simpson
2012-09-07
62 Comments
Evidence based medicine, Infectious disease, Religion

Circumcision is one topic that certainly brings up more emotion than just about any medical procedure. In fact, the same level of rhetoric is used for and against circumcision that one hears with regards to vaccines, or even abortion. Recently, the city of San Francisco attempted to ban the practice, but a judge ruled that only the state could regulate medical procedures. During the summer, a German court banned circumcision for religious purposes, though a German court banning a Jewish practice must have blown up irony meters across the world.

In any discussion about circumcision, there is general consensus that female circumcision, or female genital mutilation, is an abhorrent non-medical procedure that is simply an anti-female procedure in many male-dominated societies. We’re not talking about that, and any comparison between male and female circumcision is a strawman argument. It is also clear that part of the anti-circumcision argument centers around secularism and atheism, because male circumcision is integral to both the practice ofJudaism and Islam. That is a valid argument, and there could even be a concern that unskilled individuals performing ritual circumcisions could cause serious complications. I personally could care less about religious rituals as long as they don’t harm anyone, so this is where we need to determine what the evidence tell us. Read More »Circumcision–separating science from opinion