NEW YORK — A New York midwife who gave homeopathic pellets to nearly 1,500 children in lieu of required vaccinations has been fined $300,000, the state health department announced this week.
Janet Breen, who runs Baldwin Midwifery on Long Island, administered pellets as a substitute for vaccinations and falsified immunization records, the agency announced Wednesday.
The plan dates back to at least the 2019-2020 school year and involved families across the state, but the majority live in suburban Long Island. In 2019, New York state eliminated religious exemptions to vaccination requirements for school children.
The health department says the immunization records of children who received falsified records have been invalidated and families will now have to ensure that their children are up to date with required immunizations or at least vaccinated before their children return to school. He said it is necessary to prove that the company is in the middle of the process. school.
“Misrepresentation or falsification of vaccine records puts lives at risk and undermines the systems that exist to protect public health,” state Health Commissioner James McDonald said in a statement.
Breen, a state-licensed health care provider, is a series of oral pellets that are marketed as an alternative to vaccinations but are not recognized or approved as effective immunizations by state or federal regulators. It said it was providing patients with a “true immune homeoprophylaxis program.” Department of Health.
She provided information on state immunizations claiming that children had received the required immunizations against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, and other vaccines. Approximately 1,500 school-age patients were given 12,449 sham vaccinations before submission to the database. There are many other diseases, the agency said.
Breen's attorney said Thursday that his client intends to cooperate with investigators, pay fines and comply with all other requirements in the agreement with health officials.
“Ms. Breen has provided excellent midwifery services to many families over the years, especially on Long Island. She is now nearing the end of her career,” David Eskew wrote in an emailed statement. . “From her perspective, this is over, it's over, it's settled for her, and she's moving on with her life now.”
As part of the settlement, Breen will pay $150,000 of the $300,000 fine, and the rest will be suspended on the condition that he comply with state health law and never again administer any vaccinations that must be reported to the state, the health department said. It is said that it was done. She was also permanently banned from accessing the state's immunization records system.
Health Department spokeswoman Erin Clary said Thursday that Breen's parents and legal guardians sought out Breen and paid for her services, but they are not the focus of the health department's investigation.
State health officials said they are currently notifying hundreds of affected school districts.
