West Virginia on Track to Expand Childhood Vaccine Exemptions
Newly elected West Virginia Governor Patrick Morrisey, within a day of inauguration, issued an executive order1 to establish a process for religious and conscientious objections to state school or state regulated day care center vaccination requirements. This is great news for families in West Virginia who, up to this point, have only had limited medical […]
Kindergarten Vaccination Rates Decrease as Vaccine Exemptions Increase
New data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that vaccination rates among U.S. kindergartners averaged about 92 percent for the diphtheria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis (DTaP) and measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccines and declined during the 2023-2024 school year, while the percentage of children with vaccine exemptions reached […]
California’s Autism Epidemic Worse Than Ever
On June 29, 2015, then-governor of California Jerry Brown signed into law California Senate Bill 277. The law, which took effect on July 1, 2016, removed the personal belief/religious exemption to vaccination for children attending public and private schools and daycare centers. SB 277 was followed by SB 276 and its companion bill SB 714 […]
Higher Levels of SARS-CoV-2 Virus Detected in Some Wastewater Sites
In 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with local health departments and launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) to track SARS-CoV-2 virus levels in wastewater around the country. The goal was to help health officials quickly implement policies to mitigate the spread of the virus.1 The CDC recently confirmed […]
Ohio Jury Found Pharmacies Liable for Fueling the Opioid Crisis
On Nov. 23, 2021, a federal jury in Ohio held pharmacies liable for their role in the epidemic of opioid use in America. The jury found that CVS, Walgreens and Walmart were responsible for inappropriately dispensing large amounts of opioid drugs prescribed by doctors that caused hundreds of deaths from overdoses. Rite Aid and Giant […]
More Breakthrough Cases of COVID Ending in Hospitalization or Death
“Breakthrough cases” of people fully vaccinated for COVID-19 being infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus continue to increase throughout the United States. In recent weeks, there have been reports of breakthrough cases “rising” or “accelerating” or “spiking” in numerous states. Even though these breakthrough cases are reportedly “rare,” given that 176 million Americans have been “fully” […]