Parents Are Turning to ‘Vaccine-Friendly’ Pediatricians Who Will ‘Simply Answer Questions’
“COVID woke up a lot of people," said Dr. Osvaldo Villarreal, a primary care doctor who has been treating children for over 14 years. “They will not just simply comply.”
This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D.
Dr. Osvaldo Villarreal, a Texas primary care doctor who has been treating children for over 14 years, said his practice grew after the COVID-19 pandemic. “It woke up a lot of parents, and they will not just simply comply.” Villarreal warned that pediatricians who refuse to treat children whose parents won’t vaccinate are “going to make themselves extinct.”
More and more parents are seeking out medical practitioners who will honor their preferences regarding if and when to vaccinate their children, according to doctors and parents who spoke with The Defender.
“COVID woke up a lot of people, said Dr. Osvaldo Villarreal, a Texas primary care doctor who has been treating children for over 14 years. “It woke up a lot of parents, and they will not just simply comply.”
Villarreal, who has run his own clinic since 2022, added:
“My clinic has been growing because there are increasingly more and more parents who want to have a choice as far as what they want to do with vaccines.
“Pediatricians are putting themselves out of business if they continue with what they’re doing right now, where they say, ‘Well, you’re not going to vaccinate, then bye-bye. You can’t be part of my clinic.’ They’re going to make themselves extinct.”
Villarreal is one of the many “vaccine-friendly” doctors parents can find via online search tools, such as Dr. Green Mom.
Although “vaccine-friendly” sounds as if it might refer to a practitioner who is overly positive about vaccines, the term stems from pediatrician Dr. Paul Thomas’ 2016 book, “The Vaccine-Friendly Plan.” The book informs parents about vaccination risks and advocates for a slower vaccination schedule than most standard pediatric clinics follow.
Other terms for pediatricians who will allow parents to delay or skip childhood vaccines include “vaccine-neutral” and “non-vax-friendly.”
Dr. Brian Thornburg, a Florida pediatrician who has been “vaccine-friendly” since 2004, said the number of parents seeking to join his practice has skyrocketed.
In 2006, Thornburg’s lectures on vaccines drew audiences of 100-plus, which grew his practice. “But then once COVID happened, it blew up. Now I have a two-, three-year wait list to get into my practice,” he said.
Conversation around vaccines more polarized since RFK Jr. became health secretary
Parents looking for a doctor like Villarreal and Thornburg must navigate a vaccine environment that has become increasingly polarized since Robert F. Kennedy Jr., founder of Children’s Health Defense (CHD), became U.S. health secretary. Kennedy has called for increased scrutiny of vaccine safety.
Many clinics, including Pediatrics at the Meadows in Castle Rock, Colorado, will not accept unvaccinated patients.
“I feel like it’s gotten harsher as far as who big practices will allow in, unfortunately,” said Alexis Wangler, a mother of four kids under 9, who chooses not to vaccinate.
Before her first child was born, Wangler assumed she would vaccinate. But after she and her husband began researching vaccines, they changed their minds.
But Kennedy’s political ascent has also opened up more breathing room for some parents and doctors, according to Ashlee Stoeppler, a mother of a 14-year-old and a 7-year-old.
Stoeppler, who stopped vaccinating in 2013, said some pediatricians seem more open to delaying vaccines until a child is 2 years old, to let the child’s immune system develop more fully.
“I feel like it’s definitely a lighter conversation now, but I still run into people where they can’t talk to their family about it or their in-laws about it because they just think that you’ve got to do what the doctor says,” she added.
Stoeppler, a leader of CHD’s Tennessee Chapter, said many parents reach out to her looking for a pediatrician who “won’t bully them into getting vaccines or will just simply answer their questions.”
She said that a lot of the parents who reach out to her “just want to be able to have that civil conversation. And I feel like Kennedy being in office now in his position has definitely made a lot of pediatricians more open to that.”
Thornburg said he feels like he has “air cover” now that Kennedy has brought increased national attention to vaccines. “I certainly feel like I can breathe now because I was getting de-platformed. So for me, I feel much more comfortable, although it didn’t really change my practice.”
‘I’m here to collaborate with you’
Having a two-way conversation about vaccination isn’t something the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends.
Instead, the group — which lists major vaccine makers among its donors — encourages doctors to authoritatively tell patients what is going to happen during the visit using what’s called a “presumptive” format.
According to a 2024 AAP report on strategies for improving vaccine communication and uptake:
“A presumptive format is one in which the clinician asserts a position regarding vaccines using a closed-ended statement, such as ‘Sara is due for several vaccines today’ or ‘Well, we have to do some shots.’ …
“This strategy is in contrast to a participatory format, in which an open-ended question is used to more explicitly invite the parent to voice an opinion, such as ‘How do you feel about vaccines today?’”
In January, CHD and five other plaintiffs sued the AAP for running a decades-long racketeering scheme to defraud American families about the safety of the childhood vaccine schedule.
The suit alleges that the AAP violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by making “false and fraudulent” claims about the safety of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s childhood immunization schedule — while receiving funding from vaccine manufacturers and providing financial incentives to pediatricians who achieve high vaccination rates.
Many parents nowadays are far more informed than in the past, Villarreal said.
“Maybe back in the day, you could get away with it because the doctors were like God … but it would not fly anymore because parents want to know, ‘OK, tell me about this. What are the options?’”
Rather than presenting himself as an authority to be trusted without question, Villarreal said he tells his patients, “I’m here to collaborate with you.”
We need really strong studies to assess vaccines’ impact on babies, kids
It would really help both parents and pediatricians if the U.S. conducted high-quality research to answer basic questions about vaccines, according to Thornburg. He said:
“What are these things doing to developing organ systems? What are they doing to fetuses? What are they doing to postnatal babies and their developing organ systems?
“We won’t even give Motrin until 6 months old, but then we’ll give these vaccines, which we don’t know what they’re doing. The kidneys don’t mature until age 2. The liver’s not mature until 6 months old. The blood-brain barrier isn’t mature until 2 to 3 years old. The immune system’s not mature till 3 to 5 years old.
“What are vaccines doing to all these things?”
Studies need to be strong enough to make a “diehard pro-vax” pediatrician say, “Whoa, OK, this is a problem,” and strong enough to make someone like himself say, “Well, that’s such a solid study and they followed it out long enough that I will change my opinion and say vaccines are safe,” Thornburg said. “We need to understand, one way or another.”
Related articles in The Defender
Florida Pediatrician Used to Toe the ‘Party Line’ on Vaccines. Then He Started Listening to Parents
Dr. Paul Thomas: Why I Don’t Vaccinate Kids — and What Parents Should Know
CHD Files Landmark RICO Lawsuit Against the American Academy of Pediatrics
Breaking: Federal Court Blocks ACIP Meeting, Changes to Childhood Vaccine Schedule
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