In the midst of a growing measles outbreak, the head of the FDA has warned that federal health agencies may intervene if states continue allowing vaccine exemptions in order to prevent a national outbreak.
Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issued a warning to states that their continued practice of allowing vaccine exemptions.
This is amid an ongoing measles outbreak might “force the hand of the federal health agencies” to intervene if “certain states continue down the path that they’re on.”
“Some states are engaging in such wide exemptions that they’re creating the opportunity for outbreaks on a scale that is going to have national implications,” Gottlieb warned.
It is estimated that roughly 2 percent of children across the country are being allowed to forgo compulsory vaccinations upon entering kindergarten for nonmedical reasons.
Research has found that 12 of 18 states which allow “philosophical belief” vaccine exemptions are seeing measles outbreaks.
The anti-vaccination movement is persisting despite research debunking the myth that MMR vaccine is linked to autism, and despite doctors and other medical professionals repeatedly assuring parents that vaccines are safe and urging them to immunize their children.
Clark County, Washington, which is near Portland, Oregon, has become a “hot spot” of anti-vaccination. As a result, the area is experiencing a growing outbreak of measles. Health officials say the outbreak is a direct result of anti-vaccination policies.
Local officials there have allowed a high rate of nonmedical vaccine exemptions. At least 7 percent of students in Clark County were allowed exemptions from compulsory vaccines upon entering kindergarten.
