The New York Department of Health has fined a midwife of $300,000. According to reports, she gave 1,500 children homeopathic pellets instead of required vaccinations for diseases like hepatitis, measles, and polio. The department announced this on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.
The announcement came after an investigation found that Jeanette Breen administered the pellets as an alternative to vaccinations and then falsified children’s immunization records. Also, Breen allegedly entered nearly 12,500 false vaccine records into New York’s Immunization Information System since 2019.
The scheme, which goes back least to the 2019-2020 school year, involved families throughout the state. However, most reside on suburban Long Island as Breen operates Baldwin Midwifery there. In 2019, New York ended a religious exemption to vaccine requirements for school children.
According to the department, it’s the first settlement for a scheme to create false immunization records. The pellets Breen administered are for oral use as a series, and an out-of-state homeopath supplies them. Hence, the Food and Drug Administration or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn’t approve them as an immunizing agent.
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Erin Clary, a public information officer with the state’s health department, said the scheme suggests that parents of the affected children “sought out and paid Breen for their children’s immunizations and immunization records.” However, Clary noted that the parents were not the subject of the investigation.
Furthermore, the health department said it voided the immunization records of the children who received falsified records. Hence, their families must prove the students are up-to-date with their required shots. Or, in some cases, prove they are in the process of getting them before they can return to school.
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“Misrepresenting or falsifying vaccine records puts lives in jeopardy,” State Health Commissioner James McDonald said. “And undermines the system that exists to protect public health.” Before submitting information to the state’s immunization database, Breen administered 12,449 fake immunizations to roughly 1,500 school-aged patients.
The department said she claimed they received their required vaccinations against measles, mumps, polio, chickenpox, hepatitis B, and other diseases. Following the announcement, Breen said she had no comment. However, her attorney, David Ekew, noted that when Breen learned of the investigation, she “fully cooperated.”
Ekew said his client cooperated with investigators, paid her fine, and intends to comply with all other requirements. “Suffice it to say, Ms. Breen has provided excellent midwifery services to many families for many years,” Ekew said. “Especially on Long Island. She is now toward the end of her career.”
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He added, “From her perspective, this matter is over, done, and closed, and she is now moving on with her life.” Breen has paid $150,000 of the $300,000 penalty as part of the settlement. The other half is contingent on her complying with state health laws and never again administering any immunization.
In addition, the health department permanently banned her from accessing the state’s immunization records system. However, Dr. Arthur Caplan, head of medical ethics at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, protested the decision. Caplan said the state should go further by revoking Breen’s license.
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