NEW YORK (1010 WINS/ WCBS 880 NEWS) – A Long Island midwife was fined $300,000 by the New York State’s Department of Health after creating false immunization records for nearly 1,500 children, officials announced on Wednesday.
Jeanette Breen, who operated Baldwin Midwifery, was found responsible after an investigation by the Department of Health's Bureau of Investigations, for violating the Immunization Registry Law.
According to the release, the scheme began in the 2019-2020 school year when Breen introduced parents to the "Real Immunity Homeoprophylaxis Program," which were oral pellets marketed as an alternative to vaccination that were neither authorized by the FDA nor approved by the CDC as immunizing agents.
Breen administered 12,449 fake immunizations, including DTaP or Tdap, hepatitis B, MMR, polio, varicella, MenACWY, HiB, and PCV and submitted false information to the New York State Immunization Information System, according to the investigation.
Children throughout New York State were affected with the majority being from Long Island.
"By intentionally falsifying immunization records for students, this licensed health care professional not only endangered the health and safety of our school communities but also undermined public trust,” State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa said.
As part of the settlement, Breen must never again administer vaccinations to be reported to NYSIIS and is permanently barred from accessing the system.
The Health Department confirmed that Breen has already paid $150,000 of the $300,000 penalty. The rest of the fine will be suspended if she complies with specific conditions, including not administering any vaccines and avoiding involvement in any activities that misrepresent vaccination records.
The Health Department has also deleted all false data submitted by Breen and is currently contacting parents of affected children, informing them of the invalidity of their vaccination records, according to the release.
They are also notifying about 300 affected schools to ensure compliance with vaccination requirements.
To return to school, all affected children must now update their vaccinations, according to the statement.
"Misrepresenting or falsifying vaccine records puts lives in jeopardy and undermines the system that exists to protect public health," State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. "Let it be clear, the New York State Department of Health takes this issue seriously and will investigate and use all enforcement tools at its disposal against those who have been found to have committed such violations."