Revised CA vaccine bill would revoke exemptions from infamous anti-vax doc

Enlarge / Dr. Robert Sears examines 2-month-old twins. Sears is among the doctors who have been found to have issued fraudulent medical vaccination exemptions. (credit: Getty | Don Bartletti)

Hundreds of dubious medical exemptions handed out by California’s infamous anti-vaccine pediatrician, Dr. Robert Sears, would be revoked under fresh amendments to a state bill designed to boost vaccination rates.

The bill’s author, state Senator (and MD) Richard Pan (D-Sacramento), came to an agreement on the amendments late last week with California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The bill, SB 276, aims to crack down on bogus medical exemptions, which surged in the wake of the state’s 2015 law eliminating vaccine exemptions based on personal and religious beliefs. Dr. Pan was prompted to author the bill after discovering that some “unscrupulous” doctors had been exempting children from vaccine requirements based on questionable or outright sham medical reasons—sometimes for hefty fees. The exemptions left some communities under-protected from vaccine-preventable illnesses.