Would You Ever Refuse to Treat An Unvaccinated Child?

If a parent refuses to vaccinate his child in accordance with the recommended medical guidelines despite your attempts to educate the parent about the merits of vaccinations, it raises all kinds of potential issues.

How would you handle this situation if it cropped up at your practice? Would you agree to treat the child anyway? Attempt to find a compromise with the parent/patient? Dismiss the patient/parent or refuse to accept the patient at your practice? Would your reaction depend on the particular vaccination and the patient/parent in question?

In the comments section below, share how you would handle this situation and why. If you have a policy in place to deal with this situation at your practice, please share it. Your response might help another physician deal with this issue.



Facing a dilemma in practice? E-mail it to Aubrey.Westgate@ubm.com. We’ll share it without revealing your name, and we will ask other physician readers to weigh in.