The Department of Health and Human Services says it will make sure that doctors and other providers receive parental consent beforevaccinating children.
SecretaryRobert F. Kennedy Jr.made the announcement Dec. 3 in a video statement after the department announced it was investigating an unnamed school in the Midwest for allegedly vaccinating a child without parental consent.
The department declined to tell USA TODAY the name of the school, the state or city where the school is located, or the vaccine that was administered.
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The department said the child was vaccinated under the CDC'sVaccines for Children Program, which provides federally-funded vaccines to kids whose families have low incomes, whose families have insufficient or no health insurance, or who are American Indians or Alaskan Natives.
Children may get routine vaccines under the program through doctors, public health departments, community health centers, pharmacies, or schools. In this case, HHS said the vaccine was administered by a school.
Kennedy sad in a video address that the child had a "legally recognized state exemption" based on religious grounds.Most stateshave these types of exemptions.
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"When any institution … disregards a religious exemption, it doesn't just break trust. It also breaks the law," Kennedy said. "It fractures the sacred trust between families and the people entrusted with their care, and we're not going to tolerate it."
Kennedy said his department is launching compliance reviews to make sure parents receive timely access to their kids' medical records, and that the department's Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to remind health care providers of "their clear legal duty" to give parents that access. He also encouraged parents to make complaints to the Office of Civil Rights if they believe their rights have been violated.
"If a provider stands between you and your child, HHS is going to step in," he said.
Kennedy is alongtime skeptic of vaccinesand advocate for parental rights. He was an early supporter of the myth that vaccines cause autism and spent eight years as the leader of the anti-vaccination nonprofit Children's Health Defense.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Robert Kennedy Jr says a school illegally vaccinated a child