The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun investigating a Midwestern school for allegedly vaccinating a child without the parents’ permission.
HHS did not name the school.
“Today, we are putting pediatric medical professionals on notice: you cannot sideline parents,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “When providers ignore parental consent, violate exemptions to vaccine mandates, or keep parents in the dark about their children’s care, we will act decisively. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect families and restore accountability.”
The press release did not provide any additional information.
All I could think was, “WHAT IN THE WORLD?!”
I would go OFF on anyone who provides my child with medical care without my permission. It’s not just the lack of the parents’ consent. Allergies, anyone? Medical complications?!
More from the press release:
The investigation by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) into the reported violation of the exemption from vaccination will examine whether the school failed to comply with the Vaccines for Children Program (VFC) requirement that conditions federal provision of vaccines for immunization on compliance with state religious and other exemptions from compulsory vaccination. OCR will also examine how the state agency and school district process religious exemption requests to ensure compliance with state law when implementing the VFC program. Program providers receive vaccines purchased for the VFC by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).—-OCR’s letter to health care providers spells out parents’ right to access their children’s protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. Under the Privacy Rule, a parent is the personal representative of his or her minor child where the parent has the legal authority to make health care decisions for the child. The letter reinforces that parents who are their children’s personal representatives can exercise their children’s rights with respect to protected health information, including the right of access. OCR is also initiating compliance reviews of a number of large health care providers to ensure that parents receive timely access to their children’s health information.
Mary Margaret Olohan at The Daily Wire mentioned the leftists who have been promoting something called “Adolescent Medicine,” which pushes medical professionals to attend to children without telling the parents.
Olohan spoke with HHS Office of Civil Rights Director Paula Stannard:
HHS Office of Civil Rights Director Paula Stannard told The Daily Wire in a phone interview that the department was first made aware of “Adolescent Medicine” and its dangers through a report issued by “Do No Harm,” a group that fights back against gender ideology, and has raised many concerns about the medical community transitioning children without parental consent. Stannard called this activist push for “Adolescent Medicine” very “concerning,” particularly from her perspective and her role in enforcing HIPAA.“Part of what the HIPAA rules outline are the rights that individuals and their personal representatives have with respect to their health information,” she noted. “And one of those rights is the right to access. Starting in the first Trump administration, we had begun an initiative to enforce the individual’s right to access of their medical records. And so when I saw this, I immediately decided and recommended to the secretary that we further emphasize this particular aspect of the privacy rule in our enforcement efforts under this initiative.”
HHS reminded health providers that HIPAA’s “Privacy Rule generally gives the parent the right to access the child’s medical records as the child’s personal representative, unless one of the limited exceptions applies.”
Yes, there states that allow minors to consent to specific medical care. That also ticks me off so much and it should make anyone mad. No one under 18 should be allowed to consent to anything.
And then not even allow the parents access to their child’s medical records?
This story has me fuming.
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