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Lawyer Who Represented RFK Jr., Anti-Vaccine Group Represents Plaintiffs in WV Vaccine Lawsuit
Aaron Siri stood at a podium in a third-floor courtroom of the Raleigh County Courthouse in Beckley earlier this month. Consulting a legal pad of notes, the attorney cross examined Dr. Cathy Slemp, who had testified earlier that morning.
“Doctor, what’s the federal Vaccines for Children Program?” he asked the former state health officer. “It’s a program that the federal government does, that they have federal contracts for vaccines that allows states to purchase off those contracts so that it’s at a lower cost,” she answered.
Just two days earlier, Siri was in Washington, D.C., testifying before the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during a hearing entitled “How the corruption of science has impacted public perception and policies regarding vaccines.”
Siri, a New York-based attorney, has represented federal health secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the anti-vaccine Informed Consent Action Network. Last fall, he reportedly helped Kennedy pick health officials for President Donald Trump’s administration. He’s also petitioned the federal government to suspend or remove approval for the use of the polio vaccine in infants and toddlers until a safety trial is done.
Now, Siri is part of a legal team representing parents of school children in Raleigh County in their lawsuit against the West Virginia and Raleigh County boards of education. The families are suing the school boards to allow their students to attend class with a religious exemption to the state’s school immunization requirements.
Florida Touts Doctor Freedom but Pushes Them to Take Unvaccinated Kids
In Florida, you can’t turn away a patient on the basis of their race, color, sex, religion or national origin. But a doctor can turn someone away if they’re unvaccinated.
And in the Tampa Bay area, several pediatricians do. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo want to end that. In a news conference earlier this month, where they discussed a plan to make Florida the only state in the nation without any vaccine mandates, DeSantis said pediatricians should not deny care to children because they don’t have certain vaccinations.
“That’s wrong, and it’s coercive,” DeSantis said. “It tries to undercut your ability to choose.” Two years ago, DeSantis and the Legislature were adamant about giving doctors the freedom to run their practice as they please. In 2023, the governor signed a bill allowing physicians the ability to deny any patient a treatment if it violates their conscience or morals.
At a news conference where he signed that bill, inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic, DeSantis said he wanted to ensure doctors could “follow the data, not dictates.”
Doctors in Tampa Bay who deny unvaccinated pediatric patients point to vaccines as a life-saving measure they intend to stick to.
Pediatric Health Care Alliance, which has offices across Tampa Bay, says on its website that medically able patients need to be fully vaccinated, and tells parents who have decided otherwise that they’re encouraged “to find another health care provider who shares your views.” St. Petersburg Pediatrics gives parents choosing not to vaccinate up to 30 days to find a “more suitable pediatrician,” according to its website.
Pentagon Adds Exemptions to Requirement for All Troops to Get the Flu Shot
The Pentagon has stepped back from the policy that requires all troops to get the flu shot every year by introducing exemptions for reservists and proclaiming that the shot is only necessary in some circumstances for all service members, according to a document obtained by The Associated Press.
The memo, written by Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg on May 29 and sent to all the military services, says reserve troops now will need to be on active duty for 30 days or more before being required to get an annual flu shot. It also says the military will no longer be paying for reservists or National Guard members to get the vaccine on their own time.
News of the policy change, which has not been publicly announced by the Pentagon, comes as the Trump administration and its advisers have suggested changes to other vaccination guidance. An influential immunization panel that the administration updated to include anti-vaccine figures decided to not recommend the COVID-19 shot to anyone, while President Donald Trump used his platform to promote unproven and, in some cases, discredited ties between the pain reliever Tylenol, vaccines and autism.
Federal Appeals Court Backs Dismissal of Religious Challenge to Oregon COVID Testing Rule
Oregon Capital Chronicle reported:
An Oregon woman failed to convince a federal appeals court to reinstate her lawsuit alleging a health care employer discriminated against her Christian faith in its enforcement of the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers.
The 2-1 Tuesday decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals affirms a November 2023 ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Karin Immergut, who dismissed the claims of Sherry Detwiler, a former privacy officer and director of health information for the nonprofit hospital Mid-Columbia Medical Center located in The Dalles.
Chief District Judge Richard Seeborg wrote that Detwiler’s claims were personal and based on her own understanding of medicine, not her religious beliefs. Detwiler brought her lawsuit against the medical center on the grounds of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on factors such as religion, race, national origin, color and sex. Seeborg and Judge John B. Owens, both Obama appointees, made up the majority opinion, while Trump appointee Judge Lawrence VanDyke dissented.
“Ultimately, Detwiler’s objection to testing is grounded in the secular belief that the nasal swabs in antigen tests are carcinogenic. She failed to plead facts demonstrating her belief in the harmfulness of the swabs was related to her Christian faith,” the 40-page ruling reads. “Detwiler’s references to prayer and a broad belief that her body is a temple do not render her medical evaluation of the swabs religious.”
