Renowned Vaccine Critic Placed On Probation By Medical Board For Exemptions
Dr. Bob Sears can continue to practice medicine but he will have to go through 40 hours of educational courses for each year of probation and take a professional ethics course. His work will also be supervised by another physician for the 35 months of probation.
The Mercury News:
California Doctor, Renowned Vaccine Skeptic, Placed On Probation For Exempting Child From All Vaccinations
Dr. Bob Sears, a renowned Dana Point pediatrician who has been sought out by parents who wish to opt out of the state’s mandatory vaccine requirements, has been placed on probation for 35 months by the Medical Board of California. The June 27 order, which will go into effect on July 27, allows Sears to continue his medical practice but requires him to go through 40 hours of educational courses for each year of probation and a professional ethics course. (Bharath, 6/30)
Los Angeles Times:
California Doctor Critical Of Vaccines Is Punished For Exempting 2-Year-Old Boy From All Childhood Immunizations
In 2016, the board threatened to revoke Sears’ medical license for wrongly writing a doctor’s note for a 2-year-old boy that exempted him from all childhood vaccinations. This week, the medical board settled on a lesser punishment. Sears can keep practicing medicine but will be required to take 40 hours of medical education courses a year, as well as an ethics class, and also be monitored by a fellow doctor. He also must notify all hospital and medical facilities where he practices of the order and is not allowed to supervise physician assistants or nurse practicioners. The doctor’s supporters expressed relief that he was not more severely punished, while critics were pleased that the state did more than simply reprimand him, as some had feared. (Karlamangla, 6/29)