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Doctors: OK to Drop Patients Who Refuse Vaccines

If they refuse for non-medical reasons, pediatricians group advises.

It is acceptable for doctors to drop patients who refuse vaccinations on non-medical grounds, the American Academy of Pediatrics said Monday in a policy statement. The new position comes as 87 percent of pediatricians surveyed said they dealt with parents who did not want their children to be vaccinated—up from 75 percent 10 years ago. The organization said dropping patients due to vaccine hesitance should only be a last resort, and that pediatricians should start touting the advantages of vaccines early on. Many parents who refuse to have their children vaccinated believe that the immunizations cause autism, a theory that has been thoroughly debunked.