Vaccine Policy

At Pediatric Professional Association we look forward to providing the best care possible for our patients and their families. We respect the rights of all parents/guardians to make decisions and understand that you also want what is best for your children. We firmly believe in the effectiveness of vaccines to prevent illness and to save lives. Based on all available literature, evidence and current studies, we do not believe that vaccines cause autism or other developmental disabilities. Furthermore, the thimerosal preservative, which has been removed from almost all vaccines has never been shown to cause autism or other developmental disabilities.

We firmly believe that vaccinating children and young adults may be the single most important health-promoting intervention we perform as health care providers, and that you can perform as parents/caregivers. The recommended vaccine schedule is the result of years of scientific study and data gathering on millions of children by thousands of our brightest scientists and physicians.

The vaccine campaign is truly a victim of its own success. It is precisely because vaccines are so effective at preventing illness that there exists a decreased awareness and respect for these serious illnesses and their devastating consequences. Increasing numbers of vaccine refusals have lead to recent outbreaks of diseases which had previously been on the decline. Many of us have never seen a child with polio, tetanus, whooping cough, bacterial meningitis or even chicken pox, or known a friend or family member whose child died of one of these diseases. By refusing to immunize your child you are taking advantage of thousands of others who do vaccinate their children and you place other children and adults at risk for life-threatening diseases.

Simply stated, we firmly believe in the safety of our vaccines and in our opinion all children and young adults should receive all of the recommended vaccines according to the schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and the American Academy of Pediatrics. 

Therefore, we, the pediatricians of Pediatric Professional Association:

• Require that all patients be completely immunized according to the schedule recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Are willing to discuss any questions you may have regarding immunizations at a separate visit scheduled for that purpose.

If you feel you cannot comply with this policy and should absolutely refuse to vaccinate your child despite all our efforts, you will need to find another health care provider. We do not have a list of these providers nor would we recommend any such physician. Please recognize that by not vaccinating you are putting your child at unnecessary risk for life-threatening illness and disability, even death.

Thank you for your time in reading this policy and please feel free to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about vaccines with any one of us.

Sincerely,

Thomas B. Heaphy, M.D.

Lynn H. Beck, M.D.

Delsie A. Filardi, M.D.

Barry M. Broeckelman, M.D

Rebecca A. Fahlgren, D.O