So it is my understanding that once a kid becomes a teenager, a parent does not get to know if the child makes private healthcare decisions. Your pediatrician may not be enforcing that law, but if you go to a specialist or ER, or hospital in-patient, in our state, you as parent will need their formal consent to access their records.
So… what is preventing teenagers from going and getting their immunizations without their parents’ consent? Why wait until age 18? In our state, I believe the county health clinic will administer them for free. Any thoughts?
D2 is my stubborn one. She understands the importance of vaccines, but is less than impressed with the efficacy of the flut shot, but more than that, she HATES needles. She is in law school, and said today her school had a flu shot station set up in the lobby of the law school main building, so she got one. I’m relieved and rather proud of her.
HIPAA privacy doesn’t kick in until the age of 18. I’m not aware of any federal laws that protect unemancipated minors. Maybe it’s a state level thing @picapole
IME, most kids are anti-vax, not due to the vaccine, but due to hating shots. They dislike when they have to get shots and certainly wouldn’t override a parent if the parent is giving them an escape. I’m sure there’s an occasional outlier, but it’s definitely not the majority.
ETA: One of the life lessons I occasionally mention at school is why they should be pro-vax even if it means a needle stick and perhaps arm pain. The trade off in helping avoid the disease/illness is worth it personally. I include those who truly are allergic as examples of why the rest of us need to step up for herd immunity. Each year there are fallacies I need to combat.
Around here pharmacies will not give kids under 18 vaccinations without a prescription from doctor/pediatrician. I tried that one year because would have been more convenient than going to pediatrician. But a teenager could go to their doctor and get one.
@romanigypsyeyes Not just my home state. When I went to answer you, I found it more complex, though, than I previously understood.
There are both federal protections and state protections for minor confidentiality. HIPPA touches on it, but you are correct, it’s only lightly. Complicating those issues are uneven application by providers and even limitations in the software and billing systems used by providers.
Many of these protections began in relation to access to birth control or abortion, but have also in some cases expanded to include STDs, mental health services, and drug and alcohol abuse assistance. In some states the rules are more all encompassing. Also, some states that have parental notification laws (again, primarily for abortion) were vacated/struck down by the courts and are not enforceable.
Here are a few scholarly articles. Some of these are overviews and you would need to pay to read the article in entirety. Guttmacher Institute has several articles but they might be deemed a blog by CC, so I can’t link it.
In some states minors starting as young as 13 can get family planning services, STD treatment, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment without parental consent and with the privacy protection of HIPAA.
I got my flu shot today at my chemo infusion. On the scale of needle sticks I’ve had since March 17th, this one was way down near the bottom. Or even at the bottom.
I wanted to reply to this comment from @Creekland:
“IME, most kids are anti-vax, not due to the vaccine, but due to hating shots. They dislike when they have to get shots and certainly wouldn’t override a parent if the parent is giving them an escape. I’m sure there’s an occasional outlier, but it’s definitely not the majority.”
I had years of allergy shots and I was impressed by several high school kids who came into the clinic after school, on their own and got their allergy shot, sat and waited their 30 minutes doing homework. It does happen–but I am not at all claiming it’s a majority of kids. I am sure you are right on that.
I’ve been reading about how today’s high schoolers grew up during the recession and are more risk-averse than millenials were at their age. If you make the pros/cons clear, some might decide to take matters into their own hands. Also, kids who are highly motivated to go to college may find out their destination school requires immunizations and decide to do it.
@Picapole Our allergy shot students are just fine with shots - as are our Type I diabetes youngsters (though one of these, when diagnosed as a junior, committed suicide rather than “living” with his new normal of daily shots).
It seems to be those who rarely get shots who are afraid of them. We see it often with blood drives too. That said, with pros/cons made clear (as I try to do - along with leading by example and donating blood + considering it “normal” to get vaxs myself), some indeed get over their fear. Then they find it wasn’t as awful as they anticipated.
Just yesterday a high school student returned to school after having been hospitalized with the flu (so it’s in southern PA already). At her table we discussed the flu shot and I got to explain why some get symptoms after getting it - the body’s response building up immunity, NOT the flu. The actual reason was a surprise to all sitting there (sigh). I need to go back to teaching Bio full time… I tend to cover more rabbit trails kids will encounter IRL than our curriculum has in it. Other teachers don’t - at least - not the same rabbit trails. We all have our favorites I suppose.
My youngest lad (college grad) got the flu shot for the first time this year. His workplace required it (or a mask worn until the end of the season). My oldest still sees no need. Middle has gotten it every year with no “push” required. It more or less matches that middle lad is my med school dude.
An unvaccinated elementary student at a local school has confirmed chicken pox. School responded quickly by sending a letter to parents stating that unvaccinated kids or those who can’t provide proof of diagnosis will be excluded from school immediately until Nov 1.
Interesting, Creekland. There are a few reddit threads out there of kids/young adults who didn’t get immunized and had to figure it out on their own. Many of them did go ahead and get the shots. Some were pretty angry at their parents. One had traveled all over the world thinking they’d been vaccinated. Some got the measles. It was an eye opener.
I’m reading “Educated” now by Tara Westover. She was raised by a paranoid father who didn’t let his children go to school or have any formal exposure to medicine, short of ER trips when absolutely necessary.
