The Great Debate: Should We Dismiss Vaccine Hesitant Families From Our Practice?

Vaccines are one of modern medicine's most effective tools in the prevention of illness. In this era of “choose your own truth,” they are seen by some as instruments of harm in the hands of greedy corporations and uninformed physicians, a view that pits individual choice against the common good. Parents who refuse to vaccinate their children continue to bring them to us for care. Is it ethical to potentially expose our unvaccinated infants and immunocompromised patients to vaccine preventable diseases in our waiting rooms? Is it ethical to transfer the responsibility for these unvaccinated families to our colleagues? Is it ethical to refuse to care for children who have no say in their parents’ decision to not vaccinate? We will present a debate on the risks and benefits of dismissing vaccine hesitant families from our practices and follow with a presentation of best practices for the care of vaccine hesitant families.

Upon completion of this session, participants should be able to:

1. Discuss the ethics, risks, and benefits of dismissing vaccine hesitant families from their practices.
2. Quantify the current trends in dismissing vaccine hesitant families from care.
3. Describe current best practices in caring for vaccine hesitant families and how to teach these best practices to students and residents.