Authors

Dorit Rubinstein Reiss is a professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Increasingly, her research and activities are focused on legal issues related to vaccines, including exemption laws and tort liability related to non-vaccination. She published law review and peer reviewed articles and many blog posts on legal issues related to vaccines. She received an undergraduate degree in Law and Political Science (1999, Magna cum Laude) from the Faculty of Law in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She received her Ph.D. from the Jurisprudence and Social Policy program in UC Berkeley. She is a member of the Parents Advisory Board of Voices for Vaccines, and active in vaccine advocacy in other ways. She is also a Member of the Vaccine Working Group on Ethics and Policy (https://vaccineworkinggroupethics.org/).
Vaccine.

Past Anti-Vax Campaign Provides Insights for Current COVID-19 Debates

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By Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

A new book on a prominent misinformation campaign targeting the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine has profound insights into current vaccine debates, such as those emerging around a potential COVID-19 immunization.

“The Doctor Who Fooled the World: Science, Deception, and the War on Vaccines,” by Brian Deer, exposes the elaborate fraud perpetrated by Andrew Wakefield, the former British gastroenterologist who, in the late 1990s, created a scare about MMR vaccine by suggesting it caused autism.

Brian Deer is the journalist who, through several years of dogged investigation, exposed Wakefield’s hidden conflicts of interests and misrepresentations, showing that the small study used to create the scare was not just deeply flawed – as was apparent on its face – but an elaborate fraud.

Unfortunately, Wakefield and his misrepresentations are still with us, and are still putting children at risk all around the world. This makes Deer’s book – which teaches us how Wakefield tricked the world, and the lasting impact of his fraud – timely and important.

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Syringe and vials of vaccine.

Why a COVID-19 Vaccine Shouldn’t be Mandatory

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By Dorit Rubinstein Reiss and Y. Tony Yang

A future COVID-19 vaccine will not work without sufficient uptake, and some are considering mandates to get that uptake. Some scholars have gone so far as to call for compulsory vaccination for all U.S. residents in a recent USA Today column.

We believe premature mandates won’t work. In fact, they could backfire spectacularly.

There are several reasons for this. First, once we have an approved vaccine, we will not have enough doses to go around for those who want them. Forget mandates: even if all goes remarkably well, we will begin by producing and distributing tens of millions of doses—not the hundreds of millions needed to cover the entire United States.

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Photograph of a young girl receiving a vaccination from a doctor

New York’s Strict Vaccine Mandate Goes to Court

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By Dorit Reiss

On June 13, 2019 New York repealed the religious exemption from its school immunization mandates. While the actual repeal went fast – the bill passed the Assembly health committee, the Assembly floor, the Senate floor and the Governor’s office on the same day – the bill has been in the process since January, and activists on both sides were active in the lead up to the vote. The bill was a response to a large measles outbreak in New York that sickened hundreds of people and hospitalized over a hundred, sending tens to the ICU.

Not surprisingly, opponents filed lawsuits against the new law. Two of these lawsuits were led by the Children’s Health Defense organization, an anti-vaccine group led by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., though with two different lead lawyers. Eight additional ones were recently filed by two unassociated lawyers in eight different counties.

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a pile of vaccine vials and a needle

Where Calls for Overturning Bruesewitz v. Wyeth Go Wrong

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This week, legislators in Minnesota proposed a resolution calling on Congress and the President to legislate to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Bruesewitz v. Wyeth, 562 U.S. 223 (2011). Similar resolutions have been proposed in other states – and like them, this resolution is supported by legislators who are not anti-vaccine. You could support vaccines and yet have concerned about limits on access to courts and support broadening them. However, the phrasing of this specific resolution strongly suggests that its supporters suffer from misconceptions about our vaccine compensation scheme.

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A baby getting vaccinated by a doctor wearing gloves.

The Rockland Ban: The Next Step in the Battle Against Measles

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Rockland County, New York’s Executive, Ed Day, issued an emergency declaration last month, banning unvaccinated children from public places. Although this seems like a drastic step, it is the culmination of extensive efforts to stem a large outbreak created by anti-vaccine misinformation. It is also in line with principles of public health.

For months, Rockland county in New York has been battling a large measles outbreak. As of April 2, 2019, the outbreak reached 158 cases. The vast majority of cases – 86 percent – were in minors under the age of 18, and over 50 percent are under six years old. Only 3.8 percent of the victims are fully vaccinated (3.8 percent received two doses of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine, MMR). And 82.8 percent of cases are known to be unvaccinated. Many of the cases are concentrated in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods.

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child getting vaccinated

California Court of Appeal Rejects Challenge to Vaccine Law

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By Dorit Reiss

The Second Appellate District’s Court of Appeal upheld the California law that removed California’s Personal Belief Exemption (PBE) from school immunization requirements earlier this month.

The decision is a strong endorsement of immunization mandates and is binding on all state courts until another appellate decision is handed down, or the Supreme Court of California addresses the question.

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How the New York Court of Appeals Applied the Soda Cap Criteria to Vaccines

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By Dorit Reiss

New York’s Court of Appeals reversed an Appellate Division decision and reinstated New York City’s influenza mandate for city daycares in Garcia v. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in June. Applying the same criteria the court used in 2014 to overturn the city’s controversial Soda Cap, the court found that the rules are well within the Board’s authority.

We can suspect that the recent influenza season influenced the decision, but it was also based on a more explicit delegation of authority, and a history of vaccination programs by the Board.

Also, it’s likely good news for at least some of New York’s youngest, who will be better protected from a dangerous disease, and for the public.

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a pile of vaccine vials and a needle

Long Overdue: Check Out the Vaccine Resources Library for Expert Witnesses

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By Dorit Reiss, Stanley A. Plotkin, Paul A. Offit

A new tactic has emerged in a few recent family law vaccination cases: using arguments created by the anti-vaccine movement.

Lack of familiarity with anti-vaccine claims can trip up even the most qualified expert. But a new resource library at the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia aims to combat anti-vaccine rhetoric and by giving experts the information they need to respond.

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