We, the undersigned pediatricians, in order to help increase vaccination rates in the US, hereby call on the AAP to openly and publicly oppose the very vocal, public, and for-profit anti-vaccine views expressed by its own AAP members, Robert Sears, MD, FAAP and Jay Gordon, MD, FAAP. The misinformation given to parents by these two FAAP pediatricians continues to cause parents to put their children at unnecessary risk by wrongfully convincing parents to delay or altogether skip their child’s vaccinations. Specifically:
1. The AAP must publicly denounce the blatantly untruthful anti-vaccine statements concerning vaccine safety made by Sears and Gordon, as well as publicly condemn their "alternate" vaccine schedules. Both their vaccine safety statements and "alternate" schedules have no scientific data supporting them and also dangerously misrepresent the vaccination policy statements of the AAP.
2. The AAP must create a parent-friendly viewable/searchable/downloadable/printable summary page that lists what the AAP has stated as requested in section (1) of this petition. This summary page is to be published on both the AAP.org and healthychildren.org web site.3. The AAP should consider stripping Sears and Gordon of their FAAP designation should they continue to publicly hold such anti-vaccine views and sell anti-vaccine materials. The views of Sears and Gordon are so antithetical to AAP vaccination policy that neither Sears nor Gordon should be allowed to "hide in the herd" of pro-vaccination FAAP pediatricians who believe, based on a large body of scientific research, that vaccines are safe and effective when given according to the AAP schedule. Their possible expulsion from the AAP should be addressed publicly at the next NCE.