“For more than two decades, the childhood vaccine schedule expanded into a smorgasbord of pharmaceutical offerings, with insufficient attention to long-term health impacts. Today, HHS took a decisive step toward restoring balance.” –Dr. Joseph Varon
The Independent Medical Alliance (IMA), the nation’s leading coalition of independent physicians, healthcare providers, and medical researchers, today released the following statement from its President and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Joseph Varon, in response to the Department of Health and Human Services’ announcement of significant revisions to the recommended childhood vaccine schedule.
“This is a long-overdue recalibration of the number of vaccines administered to newborns and young children at the very outset of life. Over the past two decades, the childhood vaccine schedule steadily expanded, often with insufficient consideration for cumulative exposure and long-term health outcomes.
In practice, we subjected infants to an aggressive, one-size-fits-all approach, too often turning their earliest days into a series of injections rather than a period of careful, individualized medical judgment.
Today, HHS took a definitive step toward restoring balance, showing a strong willingness to continue questioning status-quo medical assumptions, and instead place the long-term well-being of children ahead of institutional pressures. We believe this marks the beginning of what will be the most consequential year of healthcare reform in modern American history.”
