A Long Island midwife has been found liable for falsifying vaccine records and giving schoolchildren homeopathic pellets instead of vaccinations.
Nearly 1,500 children across the state were affected by what the New York State Department of Health labeled a “vaccine scheme,” resulting in a voiding of their vaccination records, according to the Department of Health website.
As a result of the investigation, the New York State Department of Health issued a $300,000 fine.
Jeanette Breen, a licensed midwife who operated Baldwin Midwifery in Nassau County, was accused of taking the actions beginning in 2019, several months after the state eliminated non-medical exemptions for required school immunizations.
According to the health department website, she provided her patients with the “Real Immunity Homeoprophylaxis Program,” oral pellets that are marketed as alternatives to immunizations.
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The pellets, however, are not recognized by state or federal regulators such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Breen later reported the children had received vaccinations against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chicken pox, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and other diseases on the state’s immunization website.
“Misrepresenting or falsifying vaccine records puts lives in jeopardy and undermines the system that exists to protect public health,” State Health Commissioner James McDonald said in a statement.
Breen’s lawyer told The Associated Press that his client cooperated with investigators and intends to comply with all other settlement requirements.
Is this fine too heavy a punishment?
According to the health department website, Breen has already paid $150,000 of the $300,000 penalty, and the remainder is suspended if she complies with state laws and does not administer any immunizations that must be reported.
In addition, she was permanently barred from accessing the state’s immunization records.
The department voided the immunization records of all the children involved and ordered that they be “fully up to date with all age-appropriate immunizations” before they can return to school.
As reported by the US News, Erin Clary, a health department spokesperson, said that they were not focusing their investigation on parents and legal guardians who sought out and paid for Green’s services.
Breen has her defenders, including Kathleen Shortis, who set up a GiveSendGo campaign to help her raise money.
“When NYS abruptly removed the religious exemption for vaccines in schools – many families were left with overwhelming, and confusing choices to make,” she explained in the appeal. “Jeanette Breen answered their call.”
“Anyone who has used Jeanette as a healthcare provider knows that she provides calm, clear, analytical counsel – and she used that same skill here to help families make an informed choice.”
As of Saturday morning, the donation campaign had raised over $154,000 toward the $150,000 goal.
Some donors left messages of encouragement on the site, including one who wrote, “Jeanette, Good for you! We are so proud of you for doing the right thing and saving these children’s life and future. I wish there were more brave people in the world that would stand up against this evil agenda and for what’s right. God bless you!”
