this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
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A New York midwife who gave nearly 1,500 children homeopathic pellets instead of required vaccinations has been fined $300,000, the state’s health department announced this week.

Jeanette Breen, who operates Baldwin Midwifery on Long Island, administered the pellets as an alternative to vaccinations and then falsified their immunization records, the agency said Wednesday.

The scheme, which goes back least to the 2019-2020 school year, involved families throughout the state, but the majority reside on suburban Long Island. In 2019, New York ended a religious exemption to vaccine requirements for schoolchildren.

The health department said immunization records of the children who received the falsified records have been voided, and their families must now prove the students are up-to-date with their required shots or at least in the process of getting them before they can return to school.

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[–] Deceptichum@kbin.social 93 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

Homeopathy should be outlawed. Pseudoscience masquerading as healthcare.

[–] mihies@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There is placebo effect as well, so it might somehow help. But not the way they think and it shouldn't be a substitute for proper medicine.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

The placebo effect isn’t stopping measles or polio.

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[–] ryan213@lemmy.ca 48 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Wow, she avoided jail time!

[–] 2xsaiko@discuss.tchncs.de 44 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Didn't even lose her license from what it reads like. That's crazy. These kinds of people are dangerous.

[–] EdibleFriend@lemmy.world 11 points 2 years ago

I swear in the last story it said she lost her license. Still not good enough but yeah.

[–] Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

That really sucks

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 31 points 2 years ago (5 children)

"My six-year-old needs to be protected from a deadly disease but I don't trust vaccines. I know! I'll call a midwife!"

She is awful and deserves prison time, not just a fine, but the parents are also fucking stupid.

[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

The importantance of vaccines are "I need to do my part to protect OTHER kids AND adults from deadly disease"

That's the biggest part of this problem though, it's not "my six year old" on the table here - it's everyone's six year old. I have a responsibility to understand that.

If we can't understand the above, then we don't live in a functioning society.

[–] lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago

Unfortunately at this point we actually don't live in a functioning society.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

we don’t live in a functioning society.

beginning to suspect this is right.... still wearing my mask in crowded spaces, still watching 1000s die weekly from covid, no one seems to fucking care.... 1712 died last week.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00

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[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I suspect that she selected her midwifery clients based on their views about vaccines.

[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

I wouldn't be surprised if her patient's parents knew she was pencil whipping these vaccinations, otherwise she'd be in jail or being sued by the families.

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[–] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 27 points 2 years ago (2 children)

So much pain caused by this person. Forcing all the families to re-do everything. Stupid bitch; should be sitting in jail.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 45 points 2 years ago (5 children)

Apparently the families came to her to try and get fake vaccines.

[–] Bonesince1997@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Ah. Thank you for the additional information. It wasn't clear from the headline and description, although I probably should have inferred that detail. As well, I did not read the article.

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[–] derf82@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The families are the ones that sought her out. No sympathy for them. She was helping anti-vaxxers skip the law who previously used a religious exemption.

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 25 points 2 years ago (1 children)

And jailtime? She actively and knowingly risked the lives of children FFS, not only the ones she gave crap, but also the ones around them.

She should be jailed for a long time

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[–] Rooter@lemmy.world 21 points 2 years ago

No jail time? That's disappointing.

[–] Legendsofanus@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Why would someone do this? Do they feel like a rebellious hero?

[–] hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 2 years ago

Or they got paid under the table for faked vaccine records by nutcase parents

[–] TwinTusks@bitforged.space 17 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They would feel like they are saving the children from the evil government that try to give dangerous drugs to kids.

[–] Legendsofanus@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Is there any way to stop this kind of thinking in old people?

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[–] GilgameshCatBeard@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 years ago

Why is she not in prison for life?

[–] GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Only $200 per incidence? That doesn't seem very steep for giving with peoples' lives

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[–] stoly@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I'm amazed that vaccines are part of a midwife's role.

[–] doctorcrimson@lemmy.today 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

I looked it up and while it doesn't have a specific number of credits to be a licensed midwife in the state of New York, they do require you complete a Midwifery Course and require at least some Nutrition and Pharmacology credits as well as a comprehensive examination. The lowest number of credits I could find for Midwifery was 88 which is a lot less than an average bachelor's degree, but some higher level courses required RN status to complete. It appears the term is synonymous with Nurse in a lot of contexts so at first I thought it might be a difference in dialect, but upon closer inspection many midwife organizations appear holistic in nature, as in "spiritualism."

I really hate people who actively harm others based on their spiritual beliefs. The world would be better if she spent her life in prison, not just fined.

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[–] mojofrododojo@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

they're simply trying to increase the number of opportunities to vaccinate.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

That makes a great deal of sense.

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[–] ExfilBravo@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Wait until she needs a doctor and then send her to a clown doctor instead. So she knows how it feels.

[–] ChewTiger@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

I'll say the same thing I just said in another post.

What a trash bag of a human being.

[–] TWeaK@lemm.ee 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Isn't that a crime?

Edit:

while parents and legal guardians had sought out and paid Breen for her services, they weren’t the focus of the agency’s investigation.

Ok, that's slightly different. I thought she was giving children fake vaccines without their knowledge. Still incredibly shitty, and it isn't clear but it sounds like she's still allowed to practice as a midwife, just not vaccinate people.

[–] SharkAttak@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago (11 children)

Endangering childrens' lives? Yes, I think..

[–] trash@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

I think it only counts if it happens before they are born /s

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[–] HawlSera@lemm.ee 8 points 2 years ago

Child Endangerment is also a crime

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

That's exactly the type of person Long Island is full of

[–] Drusas@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago (3 children)

If any of these kids die[d] of Covid, she should be held liable.

[–] Norgur@kbin.social 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I think you misread what's happening. The parents actively sought her out for this service and Covid wasn't part of the "immunization" scheme she offered.

[–] monkeyslikebananas2@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

So her and the parents then.

[–] trash@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago

Absolutely. Negligent parents should be held accountable.

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