The Medical Board of California has accused Dr. Robert Sears of gross negligence, filing a complaint after the "alternative vaccine schedule" proponent allegedly failed to properly care for one of his patients.
According to the complaint, the patient, a toddler, was exempted from continuing prescribed childhood vaccines by Sears, a recommendation not based on evidence, which left the child and his mother, as well as all other people they will be in contact with in the future, at risk of communicable and preventable diseases.
The child was brought in for a consultation with Sears after the toddler's mother complained about adverse side effects from previous vaccinations. According to her, after the boy received his three-month vaccines, he went limp like a ragdoll and lost urinary function.
After the consultation, Sears wrote a letter excusing the child from receiving childhood vaccines further without obtaining the boy's complete vaccine history. This letter, however, was not stored as part of the boy's medical file, for which the California Medical Board is also accusing the doctor of failing to maintain accurate and adequate records.
When the boy had a headache after being hit on the head, the doctor also failed to conduct a neurological test.
Sears and the medical board will be meeting on Sept. 20 for a settlement conference. If a settlement is not reached, a hearing with an administrative law judge will be in order. The judge will provide a proposed decision that will be reviewed by the medical board. The California Medical Board will still have the final say on the matter.
Complaints against physicians in California may be filed by patients or the public, which will be reviewed by the medical board. If the initial review yields evidence of a violation, the case is forwarded to the state deputy attorney general, who will be initiating an investigation with the aid of an expert in the physician's particular field.
Sears released a book called "The Vaccine Book," which promotes an alternative vaccine schedule that delays childhood vaccines by months and even years from the schedule prescribed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For example, a child who has already received their prescribed shots at two and four months but is now making the switch to Sears' alternative vaccine schedule will be getting their DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) and Rotavirus shots at six months. According to the CDC's prescribed schedule, the child should be on dose 3 (of 5) of DTaP and dose 3 (of 3) of the Rotavirus vaccine at this point.
In August, a California judge denied an injunction against the state's new vaccination law, which requires school children to receive vaccination against contagious diseases. Some 33,000 students in the state may be denied enrollment in kindergarten or the seventh grade as a result, but San Diego District Judge Dana Sabraw said that right to education must give way to protecting the health of the children.
California made the move to enforce a new vaccination law after a massive measles outbreak in 2014 was traced back to an unvaccinated child in Disneyland.
