Updated: Senator Pan’s New Bill to Change SB 276 (after it passes)

Updated: Senator Pan’s New Bill to Change SB 276 (after it passes)

I am not a California legislative expert and I am not sure what is going on, but today, I received an automated notice as a SB 276 bill watcher of an amendment. Originally I thought that Senator Pan blinked and made the changes requested by the Governor. But then I am not sure what changes the Governor wanted. So I am doubly unsure.

The amended bill has a different bill number, SB 714, and it says it will only go into effect if SB 276 is enacted. So I am guessing this it is stand alone change to SB 276, and is probably intended to allay the concerns of those folks Senator Pan has to listen to, without changing SB 276 which is on the Governor’s desk and probably can’t practically be amended at this point.

However, what I am clear about is that whatever this SB 714 amendment is, it does not resolve the vaccine concerned’s issues, and does not help the families of vaccine injured children who do not want to risk further damage to their vaccine injured child or risk the health and well-being of their other children.

Here is a link to this, whatever it is (and it is now clear that it is a companion bill representing the agreement between the the Governor and Senator Pan).

http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB714

Here are the big changes that I see in my first pass at this thing.

1. All Current Vaccine medical exemptions will accepted up until they are not, meaning until the exemption is revoked, and almost all will be.

Here is the amended language:

“(2) Commencing January 1, 2020, a child who has a medical exemption issued before January 1, 2020, shall be allowed continued enrollment to any public or private elementary or secondary school, child care center, day nursery, nursery school, family day care home, or developmental center within the state until the child enrolls in the next grade span.”

“grade span is defined below:

2. All medical exemptions are only good for a “grade span” which “means each of the following:
(A) Birth to preschool, inclusive.
(B) Kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, including transitional kindergarten.
(C) Grades 7 to 12, inclusive..”

There is no such thing as a permanent medical exemption

Here is the language:

“All medical exemptions shall not extend beyond the grade span, as defined in Section 120370.”

3. The penalty of perjury part of the physician’s certification has been removed.
Here is the language:

“A certification by the issuing physician and surgeon, under penalty of perjury, surgeon that the statements and information contained in the form are true, accurate, and complete.”

Here is the big one:

“(4) Medical exemptions issued prior to January 1, 2020, shall not be revoked unless the exemption was issued by a physician or surgeon that has been subject to disciplinary action by the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California.”

“has been subject to disciplinary action” probably means that the physician has been sanctioned or disciplined by the Board, as opposed to just being the Respondent (defendant) in a Board disciplinary action/proceeding. If so, the exemptions of Bob Sears can be revoked since he has been sanctioned by the Board, but the exemptions of Ken Stoller cannot (yet) because while he is the subject of a current disciplinary proceeding, no disciplinary action has been taken against him. But honestly, I am not sure about that.

Are the medical exemptions written by the disciplined/sanctioned doctors automatically revoked? NO

“(C) A medical exemption that the reviewing immunization department staff member determines to be inappropriate or otherwise invalid under subparagraphs (A) and (B) shall also be reviewed by the State Public Health Officer or a physician and surgeon from the department’s immunization program designated by the State Public Health Officer. Pursuant to this review, the State Public Health Officer or physician and surgeon designee may revoke the medical exemption.”

So an exemption written by a disciplined doctor still has to go through the SB 276 review process before it is revoked. My view is that almost every single medical exemption written by a disciplined physician using broader than CDC contraindications will be revoked.

That means if you have a medical exemption and the writer has been disciplined (or possibly the subject of a disciplinary action), it will most likely be revoked, but it is unclear when. My guess is that there will be some very quick process, because the appeal is just a procedural fig leap to create the illusion of due process.

4. Here is part two of the Bob Sears payback rule:

“(C) If a physician and surgeon licensed with the Medical Board of California or the Osteopathic Medical Board of California is on probation for action relating to immunization standards of care, the department and governing authority shall not accept a medical exemption form from the physician and surgeon unless and until the probation has been terminated.”

So Bob Sears and any other physician who gets probation as a board sanction is out of the medical exemption writing business. I am assuming this provision only applies to post January 2020 exemptions and not exemptions written prior thereto, which under (2) above appear to be valid for the first half of calendar year 2020. But then, you never know with these jokers.

So what’s the bottom line?

Currently, medically vaccine exempt will technically continue to be vaccine exempt until the (i) the physician who wrote the exemption is under a board disciplinary order and (ii) whoever reviews exemptions decides that it is not consistent with applicable standards (CDC, APA, AAFP, ACIP) and if appealed, the appeal affirms the revocation (and pretty much all revocation appeals will be affirmed).

When will that happen? Who knows, but that is what is coming, so plan accordingly.

This is a typical Pan move. Make it look like he’s giving something up to placate the powers he needs to placate, but in reality, he’s turning the thumb screws another full turn on the vaccine concerned/vaccine injured families.

Governor Newsom: If you’re listening, don’t be fooled by this bill/amendment. It does nothing to protect the vaccine injured families. Please reconsider your support for this bill.

And by the way, the community thinks that home schoolers are Senator Pan’s next target.

Rick Jaffe, Esq.
rickjaffeesquire@gmail.com

6 thoughts on “Updated: Senator Pan’s New Bill to Change SB 276 (after it passes)

  1. Regarding your point #2, about ME’s being good for one year, “grade span” makes it sounds
    like checkpoints (preschool-K, K-6, etc.) not a single year. Can someone clarify?

  2. In reading the amendments I was under the impression that any ME written before Dec 2020 would stay in effect until the end of the grade span, or until June 2021? Not that any amendments improve this bill but just in terms of time frame for moving or homeschooling…

  3. My head hurts. I cannot make sense of 714 complication/wording. I honestly would need a lawyer/legislative expert to interpret this for me and make sense of it. Thank you Mr. Jaffe for putting your brain power to it and trying to clarify.

  4. Dr Bob Sears is an expert int he field of vaccinations and is not on probation. He is practicing in his pediatric office now. I’m not sure if you know this?? Have you spoken with him? He was my sons doctor and I’ve heard him speak about the real situation. Want to make sure he is represented correctly….Am I reading your article wrong? Do you know the situation with Dr Sears? People go to him because he is knowledgeable int he field of vaccines, just like people go to doctors with specialties in other areas. A parent with a vaccine compromised child goes to him for that expert advice. Thats why he writes more than other doctors and is an activist for this Bill. It would be a shame to take rights away form expert doctors in the field of vaccination and put it in the hands of the government?! So scary. Tomorrow they will all be at the Capital speaking with Robert Kennedy Jr too. Everyone tune in and go to the capitol in sacramento if you can Monday 9/9.

    1. Dr. Bob Sears agreed to a 35 month probation penalty, in Mary or June 2018, per his announcement on Facebook. That means he’s got a few months under two years left on probation. He’s also the subject of a new accusation. All of this is a matter of public record.

      If the new bill passes, and probably even if it doesn’t, I think he’ll be out of the vaccine exemption writing business for awhile. I think every single one of his (and other like-minded physicians) will be scrutinized and they’ll all be rejected at some point. So if you’ve got one, you should think about a plan b.

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