How to Prepare for Expert Testimony on the Safety of Vaccination.

Abstract

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently announced that vaccine coverage in American children has begun to decline as more parents seek medical, religious, and so-called philosophical exemptions. The proportion of unvaccinated American children has now reached 1.3%.1 This was a depressing announcement but not surprising in view of the increase in antivaccinationism, or as it is euphemistically called, “vaccine hesitancy.” One of the reasons for the decline in vaccination became clear to me in January 2018, when I was asked to do a pro bono deposition in a case in which a father who wanted his daughter vaccinated before entering kindergarten was suing his divorced wife, who opposes vaccination. I accepted because I viewed it as a public service, and I thought I merely had to testify about the benefits of vaccination and its overall safety. However, when I arrived at the conference room where the deposition was to be conducted, I found 2 lawyers representing the mother. I later learned that 1 of the lawyers was a partner at a New York City law firm that specializes in vaccine injury and antivaccination suits. The firm represents those opposed to mandatory vaccination. As an example, it opposed a regulation in New York that would allow a child … Address correspondence to Stanley A. Plotkin, MD, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Vaxconsult, 4650 Wismer Rd, Doylestown, PA 18902. E-mail: stanley.plotkin{at}vaxconsult.com