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I am fuming. Re: Immunization
First milo is up to date on his shots. but that is between me and my doctor. and not the city of philadelphia and me.
i just received a letter from the city claiming my child is not up to date according to their records and he is required to have his shots. I never signed a paper releasing my child's information to the city of philadelphia. EVER. i called up this division fuming that my child medical records were released to them and they told me it wasn't his medical record just his shots. um that is his medical records.
i opted out of the program but when i called my doctor's office the secretary she told me to becareful another patient had the same issue kid full vaxed and she refused the program and they SHOWED UP AT HER DOOR requiring a visit and to see her child's records. basically the city of philadelphia has access to all shot records and vax charts of every doctor in the city. THIS IS NOT OKAY. i have no idea who has access to my child's records. at the very least they knew our name and our address and his shot record. what else is available my social security number his? who is allowed to access his shot records.
I am contemplating contacting a lawyer this feels like an infringement on my rights.
Re: I am fuming. Re: Immunization
That is pretty disturbing! I would be pissed too! I am wondering if this would fall under a HIPAA violation?
GL with everything...
Yes I do!
For the record we have private health insurance, the city never asked me to sign a paper releasing my child's info. I was told it was my right to opt out only after I chewed the department out.
I could imagine the city wanting to know this information anonymously (for statistical purposes) but to call you up is ridiculous and definitely has to be a violation.
#1 12.11.11
#2 10.23.13 EDD
The best was when they tried to convince me it was a good idea just in case I move out of the area and don't want to ask my doctor for his chart. Are you kidding me.
So, are they then implying they have ALL of his medical records and not just the immunization record? I would be PISSED.
No they did not imply that. They implied that immunization is not part of your medical record though.
I've never seen any such paperwork in his file.
So here's the deal...
https://kids.phila.gov/regulations_standards.aspx
The Philadelphia Health Code ? 6-210, as approved by City Council, authorizes the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to establish immunization requirements for prevention of communicable diseases. The Department, in accordance with the Philadelphia Board of Health, sets forth the regulations "Governing the Immunization of Newborns, Children and Adolescents," including reporting requirements for the KIDS Registry. All immunizations given in Philadelphia to children 0 through 18 years of age must be reported to the KIDS Registry. This includes all vaccine doses, whether VFC vaccine or privately purchased.
https://kids.phila.gov/Docs/BOH_Imm_Regs_July_07.pdf
From pg. 7-8
Responsibility for Reporting Immunization Information. Any health care provider who treats or examines a newborn, child, or other person below the age of 19, and any head, superintendent or other person in charge of a health care facility that treats such persons, who has knowledge of administration of any immunization included in the current Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices/American Academy of Pediatricians (ACIP/AAP) Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule that are routinely administered to persons less than 19 years of age shall make a report of the immunization to the Department. The report shall be submitted in a content and manner as specified below and in accordance with additional parameters as may be established by the Department.(c) Content of Reports.
All reports shall include the following information:
(1) Child?s name (first, middle and last);
(2) Child?s date of birth;
(3) Child?s sex;
(4) Name of the child?s legal guardian;
(5) Address of the child?s legal guardian;
(6) Type of immunization;
(7) Date of vaccine administration (month, day, year);
(8) Name of the immunization provider;
(9) Any additional information as the Department may require in connection with a particular type of immunization or case.
Not to be a conspiracy theorist but having all that info documented for the city's use gives me the shivers. I'm not going to assume that every person who has access to that information is a 100% upstanding citizen with only happy thoughts about rainbows and puppies.
Number 9 is by far the scariest. Basically any other information we want we can have.
I talked it over with my boss-she was pretty shocked to find out that such regulations are in place. She suggests that you contact the ACLU to see if they would have any interested. She said that hiring a lawyer on your own would be far too expensive and lengthy. I'm actually surprised your doctors office allowed you to opt out. Based on how the regulations are written, it doesn't appear as though there would be an 'opt out' option.
And for the future...if anyone doesn't want to have to deal with this. Give birth outside of the city and have your child see doctors that are not in the city. As of now, this just is what it is...
That is a slippery slop still dreaming.
My boss brought up another valid point that through this system, an abusive father could track down the current address of his wife and kid.
ha. not to mention we know the records are flawed. they also only collect children's information not adults.
i didn't see it called out in the reg- is this open or closed to the public info. because if it is closed the above situation is a bit of a reach.
i do see the importance of it re: outbreaks or vaccine recalls. if i have to provide the info to school, camp, daycare and everyone else who asks (i'm surprised i didn't have to bring it for swimming lessons), i just don't see an issue with the city having it as well. i will now gladly shove my head back in the sand and assume the gov has a valid need to know on this one.
I have never heard of such a thing. What kind of program is this?
but you were asked for it.you provided his medical record. I at no time was told this get's put into a database with the following information.
Yeah, is it bad that this doesn't particularly bother me? Assuming it's not open to the public, obviously.
Maybe I'm too trusting or don't care enough about my civil rights, but I can't bring myself to get worked up about this kind of thing.
i haven't been asked with regard to the city. i am just assuming that the city has a central repository based on the forms the doc and hospital needed to fill out. i never thought enough to ask about it or ask to opt out.
Um are you kidding me. Slippery slope people, slippery slope.
My question now is if the City criminalizes non-vaxers?
If they are coming after people in person whose vax records are not up to date, what are they then doing about it?
I'm assuming they don't show up, say, "we just wanted to tell you." and leave.
??
Are people in the City of Philadelphia forced to vaccinate?
(I am actually anti-non vaxers, but this confuses me)
Yeah that's right my name's Yauch!
i'm wondering the same thing...
TJW arrived 7/28/11
I really have no clue. Pretty much every parent i know in philly had no idea this was even a thing. My old boss said she use to ignore letters if they came to her house like this.
i just didn't like that when i asked to opt out i was told they would "close my case" um what case.
i also found it odd that this is jointly run by the hispanic council and public health, so when i called the department they answered and spoke at first in Spanish. That can be intimidating for the regular parent calling. they also assured me it was all children and not just those of a certain race etc.
oddly enough because i had milo out of the city, i was sent a letter early on (ignored because i was like 2 weeks pp) asking me if i had seen a doctor yet and other invasivethings, i often believe that letter was sent to me based on my address since I lived in a poorer area. None of the mom's i knew out of the area had received one.
Sorry Lachute but I completely agree. This also applies to adults and the CDC, FYI. After my issue after Ava's birth, they thought I had contracted MRSA and was later contacted by the CDC regarding it. Luckily it wasn't MRSA, but the hospital released that information to the CDC which is mandatory reporting by hospitals and doctors; I don't see a child's vaccination any different. IMO vaccinations, or lack thereof, are a public health concern and the lack of vaccinations have been causing outbreaks across the country so it would be relevant.
I understand your concern but think this is not something so out of the ordinary and believe the CDC and Philadelphia disease control have a right to know who is vaccinated and who isn't in order to be prepared for a possible outbreak.