States Start Requiring Vaccine Records in Infant Death Autopsies
“A child never dies from ‘unknown causes.’”
This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.
Oklahoma and Louisiana this week passed legislation that amends existing public health law by directing coroners to document any vaccines administered within 90 days of death on autopsy reports for children under age 15 who died unexpectedly and without explanation. “A child never dies from ‘unknown causes,’” said medical researcher and SIDS expert Neil Z. Miller.
Two states this week moved to require that vaccine records be included in the autopsy reports of children who die from unexplained causes.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Wednesday signed a bill requiring medical examiners to document recent immunizations on the death certificates of children who died from unknown causes.
On Thursday, a Louisiana bill, “A Voice for the Voiceless,” passed the House with a 76-12 vote. The Senate unanimously passed the bill in March. It’s now headed to the desk of Gov. Jeff Landry, who is expected to sign it.
Current law requires coroners who designate a death as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), Sudden Unexpected Infant Death, Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome or Sudden Death in the Young — all of which refer to a sudden death with no discernible cause — to report the death and designation to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Oklahoma and Louisiana bills amend the existing public health law by directing coroners to document any vaccines administered within 90 days of death on autopsy reports for children under age 15 who died unexpectedly and without explanation.
Medical researcher and SIDS expert Neil Z. Miller, author of numerous books on vaccine safety, told The Defender in an earlier interview that “of course” such legislation is a good idea.
“A child never dies from ‘unknown causes,’” Miller said. “There is always a reason for death. Often, that reason is vaccines. But medical examiners may be ‘hesitant’ to list vaccines as the probable cause due to intense pressure from medical colleagues.”
The legislation would relieve that pressure.
Other states have introduced similar bills, but they appear to have all stalled:
Iowa’s bill was advanced to the health committee in January, but has not been updated since.
Florida’s bill “died in Health Policy,” according to the Florida Senate website.
Minnesota’s bill was introduced over a year ago and is listed as a current bill in the Senate, but no actions have been taken since it was introduced.
Louisiana proactive in investigating link between infant deaths and vaccines
In a post on X congratulating Patrick McMath, the state senator who sponsored the bill, Stand for Health Freedom wrote, “Next stop: Governor Landry’s desk. With his signature, Louisiana becomes the first state to include this vital information in the reporting of unexplained child deaths.”
McMath told The Defender the legislation will allow the state “to gather data and see whether or not a correlation exists” between vaccines and sudden infant and child death.
Landry’s office did not immediately respond to The Defender’s inquiry about whether he plans to sign the bill. However, Landry has been a strong advocate for health freedom.
As attorney general, Landry sued then-Gov. John Bel Edwards to stop COVID-19 vaccines from being added to the state’s school immunization schedule.
Landry also filed an amicus brief in support of Children’s Health Defense’s (CHD) groundbreaking lawsuit against the legacy news media members of the Trusted News Initiative.
Louisiana has been proactive in investigating the link between infant and child deaths and vaccines. In 2024, the House passed a bill requesting that the Louisiana Department of Health conduct a study examining the relationship between unexpected deaths of infants and children, ages 2 and under, and the administration of vaccinations.
It was also under Landry that the Louisiana Department of Public Health shared its infant mortality data and immunization with CHD’s science team.
An analysis of that data found that infants vaccinated in their second month of life were more likely to die in their third month than unvaccinated infants. Female and Black infants died at higher rates than male or white babies.
In other states that have introduced bills similar to Louisiana’s, legislators cited CHD’s study as key in demonstrating why such information ought to be included in autopsy reports.
Research, data support link between vaccines and SIDS
A SIDS diagnosis is given when an infant under age 1 dies suddenly, typically during sleep, and an investigation into the death fails to yield a cause. Ninety-five percent of SIDS deaths occur in the first six months of life, peaking at ages 2-4 months.
Each year, the U.S. records more than five infant deaths per 1,000 live births, far exceeding rates in other high-income countries.
The CDC’s monitoring of the sudden deaths of infants and young people is not comprehensive. A recent study published in JAMA Network Open found that the CDC underestimates the rate of sudden unexplained deaths in childhood and that certification of sudden unexplained pediatric deaths is inconsistent.
After birth defects and prematurity, SIDS is the third leading cause of death among infants. The medical industry claims to remain puzzled about the cause.
Recent research hypothesizes that infants with underdeveloped liver pathways may be more susceptible to SIDS after vaccination, because their bodies lack the ability to process toxic chemicals present in small quantities in vaccines.
The National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program — which compensates people injured by vaccines — recently awarded payouts to two families of infants who died suddenly from allegedly “undetermined” causes, according to the medical examiners, following vaccination.
The SIDS diagnosis didn’t exist until the late 1960s, when the category was created in response to a rise in sudden unexplained infant deaths.
In the early 1960s, the number of vaccines administered to most U.S. infants increased. The federal government began appropriating money so the CDC could work with local health departments to vaccinate all children.
In 1972, the agency designated the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as a federal advisory committee. ACIP makes the recommendations for vaccines to be listed on the childhood immunization schedule.
In 1979, officials removed vaccination as possible cause of SIDS
As SIDS rates rose, so did parental concern that SIDS was connected to vaccination. However, health officials assured parents that unexplained death following vaccination was “merely coincidental,” according to Miller’s research, published in the peer-reviewed journal Toxicology Reports.
He also said that before 1979, the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) included cause-of-death classifications associated with “prophylactic vaccination” as an official cause of death.
However, in 1979, the ICD was revised and that category was eliminated. As a result, “medical examiners are compelled to misclassify and conceal vaccine-related fatalities under alternate cause-of-death classifications,” Miller said.
Instead of examining the link between vaccines and SIDS, public health researchers developed a “triple-risk model” for explaining SIDS.
According to that model, SIDS occurs when a baby has an unknown medical condition, is going through an important period of development where the body changes quickly, and it encounters an outside stressor, such as sleeping on its stomach.
Because this model offers the prevailing theory on causes of infant death, it’s not uncommon for law enforcement to blame parents when babies die after vaccination.
Police are not educated about possible links between vaccination and SIDS, and information about vaccination is typically not included in coroner’s reports — a gap the new legislation will correct.
Related articles in The Defender
Iowa Bill Would Require Medical Examiners to Include Vaccine Records in Infant Death Investigations
Louisiana Attorney General Files Amicus Brief in CHD’s Landmark Suit Against Trusted News Initiative
Vaccine Court Awards Family $310,000, Rules Encephalitis After MMR Shot Killed Toddler
6-Month-Old Died After Receiving 6 Routine Vaccines at Wellness Visit
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Asking for ALL the data about a child's medical history when they die suddenly/unexpectedly is kind of a no brainer.
Then again, maybe it's racist or something I'm unaware of. /s