Since 1961, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has recommended that all newborns receive a vitamin K1 injection to prevent uncontrolled bleeding caused by vitamin K deficiency.1,2
Vitamin K1 is required for proper blood clotting, and newborns tend to have low levels due to the fact that vitamin K doesn’t cross the placenta very well. Deficiency can result in sudden internal bleeding — typically in the brain or intestines. This is referred to as “vitamin K deficiency bleeding” or VKDB, and can be life-threatening.
Research published in 20143,4 in the journal Pediatrics found the number of parents declining the vitamin K shot for their newborn babies was on the rise, increasing from 0.21% in 2006 to 0.39% in 2012.5
The data were based on infants born in Alberta, Canada. In the U.S., data6 presented at the 2014 CSTE conference reported the refusal rate at two Nashville, Tennessee, hospitals ranged from 2.3% to 3.7% in 2013.
A second 2014 study7 also concluded vitamin K refusal was on the rise, and with it, an increase in late onset vitamin K deficiency bleeding in infants. Of seven infants with confirmed vitamin K deficiency, five developed vitamin K deficiency bleeding.
A 2017 poll8 found the most common reasons given by parents for refusing the vitamin K shot were “perceptions of parents that the injection was unnecessary, lack of knowledge about vitamin K deficiency bleeding, and concern about preservatives.”
Vitamin K Refusal Linked to Vaccine Avoidance
As reported by Scientific American,9 the 2014 Pediatrics paper10 found that children who did not receive the vitamin K shot at birth were also 14.6 times more likely to be unvaccinated at the age of 15 months. According to the authors:11
“This is the first population-based study to characterize parents who are likely to decline vitamin K for their infants and whose children are likely to be unimmunized. These findings enable earlier identification of high-risk parents and provide an opportunity to enact strategies to increase uptake of vitamin K and childhood immunizations.”
Senior author Shannon MacDonald told Scientific American:12
“Our finding of a link between vitamin K refusal and vaccine refusal was very concerning. We had expected a correlation between the two but had not expected the association to be so high.”
The correlation between vitamin K shot refusal and vaccine avoidance is turning out to have severe ramifications for many parents. In short, by saying no to the vitamin K shot, some hospitals are automatically labeling you a negligent parent and a dreaded anti-vaxxer in the making, so to speak.
Babies Taken From Parents Who Refused Vitamin K Shot
A number of stories have emerged detailing how parents have had their newborn babies taken from them by simply because they declined the vitamin K injection. In a September 2019 article,13 The Daily Citizen describes the harrowing ordeal of Angela and Brian Bougher:
“The Christian couple believes that ‘God’s creation isn’t automatically deficient or flawed at birth’ and the shot is unnecessary. The Boughers have a right to their beliefs, and if they were fully informed of the risks then they should be able to decline. The state of Illinois didn’t see it that way.
Instead, in the moments after birth, a nurse told the Boughers that their newborn daughter was being taken away and they were being investigated for ‘medical neglect.’ It took 12 hours to get their daughter back.
It’s debatable whether the logic of Boughers’ decision is sound — however, medical professionals should know that the first moments of life are crucial to both mother and child. To remove a child for such a reason is a severe overreach of the state’s responsibility to protect children from neglectful parents.
The family’s pain did not stop there. Later the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) had law enforcement officers make an unannounced visit the Boughers’ home to investigate and determine if any of their other four children were being ‘neglected.’”
The Boughers and several other Illinois families who experienced harassment and investigation by the DCFS over refusal of the vitamin K shot have filed a class action lawsuit against local hospitals (Silver Cross Hospital, Advocate Christ Medical Center and the University of Chicago Medical Center), the AAP, the DCFS and several pediatricians. As reported by CBS September 24, 2019:14
“They want a compensation and a court-enforced guarantee that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services won’t be called if parents refuse to give their babies a Vitamin K shot.”
Protect Your Right to Informed Consent and Defend Vaccine Exemptions
With all the uncertainty surrounding the safety and efficacy of vaccines, it’s critical to protect your right to make independent health choices and exercise voluntary informed consent to vaccination. It is urgent that everyone in America stand up and fight to protect and expand vaccine informed consent protections in state public health and employment laws. The best way to do this is to get personally involved with your state legislators and educate the leaders in your community.
Think Globally, Act Locally
National vaccine policy recommendations are made at the federal level but vaccine laws are made at the state level. It is at the state level where your action to protect your vaccine choice rights can have the greatest impact.
It is critical for EVERYONE to get involved now in standing up for the legal right to make voluntary vaccine choices in America because those choices are being threatened by lobbyists representing drug companies, medical trade associations and public health officials, who are trying to persuade legislators to strip all vaccine exemptions from public health laws.
Signing up for NVIC’s free Advocacy Portal at www.NVICAdvocacy.org gives you immediate, easy access to your own state legislators on your smartphone or computer so you can make your voice heard. You will be kept up to date on the latest state bills threatening your vaccine choice rights and will get practical, useful information to help you become an effective vaccine choice advocate in your own community.
Also, when national vaccine issues come up, you will have the up-to-date information and call-to-action items you need at your fingertips. So, please, as your first step, sign up for the NVIC Advocacy Portal.
Sources and References
- 1 CDC.gov, FAQ Vitamin K Deficiency Bleeding
- 2 Evidence Based Birth, The Vitamin K Shot in Newborns
- 3, 10, 11 Pediatrics September 2014; 134(3)
- 4, 5, 9, 12 Scientific American August 19, 2014
- 6 2014 CSTE Conference, Vitamin K Refusal Rates
- 7 Pediatric Neurology 2014 Jun;50(6):564-8 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24842255
- 8 Acad Pediatr. 2017 May-Jun; 17(4): 368–373
- 13 The Daily Citizen September 27, 2019
- 14 CBS September 24, 2019
- 15 Cees Vermeer Maastricht University
- 16 Neutraceuticals World, June 11, 2013
- 17 Healthychildren.org, Vitamin K
- 18 AquaMephyton Ingredient List (PDF)
- 19, 22 Toxnet, Polysorbate 80
- 20 Toxnet, Propylene Glycol
- 21 Phytonadione Ingredient List (PDF)
- 23 Journal of Prenatal & Perinatal Psychology & Health, Babies Don’t Feel Pain: A Century of Denial in Medicine
- 24 The Journal of Perinatal Education 2004 Summer; 13(3): 10–17
- 25 CMAJ 2008 Jul 1; 179(1): 11–12
- 26 Edgepharma.com Vitamin K Oral Solution for Hospitals
- 27, 30 Evidence Based Birth Oral Vitamin K Regimen
- 28 Acta Paediatric 2003 Jul;92(7):802-5
- 29, 32 Annals of Pharmacotherapy June 1, 2012 DOI: 10.1345/aph.1Q769
- 31 European Journal of Pediatrics 2013; 172: 357-360 (PDF)
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