February 20, 2019

Dr. Kelly Larson: Why I Testified in Support of House Bill 1638 and Stronger Vaccination Policy

The following opinion piece comes courtesy of WSMA member Kelly Larson, MD, a family medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente's Olympia Medical Center in Olympia. If you have a story you'd like to share with your fellow WSMA members, let us know at editors@wsma.org.

The latest measles outbreak in Washington state brings back memories of a place and time where I witnessed firsthand how deadly that disease can be.

In 2012, I was an active-duty navy physician deployed on a medical mission in Nigeria. I was discussing the day's events with the local public health nurse; in particular, a case of measles in an infant who had almost no hope of surviving.

The nurse asked me "Is it true that in America, anyone who wants a measles vaccine can get it for free, but some people refuse because they think it causes autism?" I answered in the affirmative, but for her and her associates, it was impossible to imagine that people who had access to a vaccine would choose not to take advantage of it.

Later that day, I went to use the restroom. When I opened the door, a goat standing on top of the commode greeted me with a bleat. Startled, I audibly overreacted. But in that moment, it occurred to me that even here in this place with a tin roof, a dirt floor, and a goat in the john, they understood that vaccines are safe and necessary to save lives. I realized then that we've lost sight of just how deadly this 100 percent preventable disease can be.

And that's why I took time away from my family medicine practice at Olympia Medical Center on Friday, Feb. 8 to testify in support of House Bill 1638 in front of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee. Lawmakers were to receive public testimony on a bill that would remove the personal or philosophical exemption from the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine. If this bill passes, children in Washington state's public schools can only opt out of MMR vaccine with medical consent from their physician.

I arrived an hour early, confident I would arrive in plenty of time to register to give public testimony. I thought only a dedicated few people would stand in line for an hour in 30-degree temperatures. I was right about the "dedicated" part, but wrong about the "few."

By 7 a.m., hundreds of people were in line, and they were nearly all anti-vaccine advocates, many brought in by coach buses from Seattle and Spokane. I was in the middle of an anti-vaccine rally—a grassroots campaign effectively organized on social media. I had to display my Kaiser Permanente physician badge to prevent participants from handing me propaganda. I overheard conversations about "being in this fight together" and "my child, my choice."

The committee decided to forgo public testimony, electing instead to hear testimony from physicians, physician scientists, and "vaccine injury experts" who were invited by the committee to speak. The supporting testimonies were by pediatricians and public health physicians who live and work in Washington state. The opposition testimonies were by a physician, biochemist, and ethics professor who were from Illinois. California, and New York. Even Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke against the bill, adding to the media and political buzz.

His comments reflected much of what I heard all morning:

• Measles is not that serious of a disease. Reports on morbidity and mortality of measles are overreported, or even fraudulent. Nobody died of measles when he was a kid, it wasn't until after they started mandating MMR vaccine that there were death reports from measles infections.
• Pharmaceutical companies are knowingly poisoning people because they don't care and vaccines are so profitable.
• Vaccinations cause irreparable harm and are the cause for countless morbid diseases (autism, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, etc.), all of which have skyrocketed since the introduction of vaccinations.

His remarks received enthusiastic support from the crowd. The woman next to me wept, saying, "Finally someone is publicly stating what we all know to be true." I heard comments about "sheeple" and that people who vaccinate need to "think for themselves." When testimony was given on the danger of measles, the crowd jeered, "No more lies!"

The reason I'm writing in this detail is because I was naïve. I had no idea about the extent of the opposition, so I'm presuming you don't either. This movement is loud, passionate, and organized.

I saw HB 1638 potentially as progress, but now it feels like a hopeless cause. Even if legislators can ignore the pseudo-science and the junk science, it will be hard for them to ignore the vast numbers of constituents that demand to be heard.

When the anti-vaccine advocates called vaccine supporters "sheeple" and when the physician testimonies were met with a bleat, I thought of that goat in the john. Sometimes your purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others. We are physicians. Let's speak up.

Note from the WSMA editors: Membership in the WSMA allows the medical association to advocate on behalf of physicians and physician assistants in Washington on critical issues such as vaccines. WSMA members should be on the lookout for opportunities to engage on the vaccine exemption issue this legislative session. And make sure to attend our WSMA Legislative Summit in February 2020!