A U.S. District Court judge in Maryland on Monday ordered states to temporarily block all restrictions on health care workers who want to administer autism-related vaccinations.
Judge Roger Titus sided with state advocacy groups that blocked a state mandate that would require health care providers to administer the controversial vaccine.
“The court concludes that the states’ prohibition of health care practitioners from refusing to provide some or all of the vaccinations on their mandate does not adequately protect the health of residents of Maryland and does not protect the constitutionality of the vaccinations as a whole,” Titus wrote in the 27-page ruling.
The ruling effectively blocks the mandate from being enforced in all but 10 states: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, Maryland, Connecticut and Delaware.
About 50 states have some kind of regulation or restriction on conscientious objectors. The rules are intended to ensure that safety of patients with autism is paramount and the vaccination schedule is transparent. But anti-vaccination advocates say refusal to inoculate risks harming children, possibly by jeopardizing the vaccination rate required for vaccination.
The Maryland ruling cites a concern about “the side effects of vaccination in particular, and the ‘non-adverse’ side effects more generally.”
“The court needs to address that issue thoroughly and in detail,” Titus wrote.
The Parents for Vaccine Choice and Immunization Coalition brought the lawsuit on behalf of 11 doctors and registered nurses who said they objected to vaccinations because of concerns over autism or other medical conditions.
“Those sides are different,” said Rebecca Klein, executive director of the group. “We can’t do that at the expense of all the other children in the state and every child that will be given the vaccine.”
The group said it hopes other courts will find the vaccine mandates have constitutional problems.
Eight states have similar regulations, including California and Maryland. The groups that sued them say their merits must be examined, but they oppose any ban on the vaccine.
Since 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that between 2 and 4 percent of children receive vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella before age 11. Some parents say there is too much risk, and they cite a 2011 study suggesting a link between the vaccine and autism. Other studies have found no evidence of a link.
The move to include autism was spurred by a large British study suggesting a link between the mercury-based preservative thimerosal in vaccines and autism. The British study, however, was later discredited and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention removed it from recommended vaccines in 2011.
Between 2006 and 2013, Maryland required health care providers to provide the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to all children except those with medical or religious exemptions. Several doctors stopped giving the vaccine, which is given to pregnant women, pregnant mothers, newborns and those who are at high risk of complications. The law covering religious and medical exemptions was later deemed constitutional.
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This article was written by Kristen Hare, a reporter for The Washington Post.