A midwife in New York is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines after it was discovered she substituted oral pellets for vaccines when inoculating infants.
Jeanette Breen, the operator of Baldwin Midwifery in Nassau County, reportedly administered homeopathic pellets as an alternative to vaccines and falsified records to hide the switch.
"Misrepresenting or falsifying vaccine records puts lives in jeopardy and undermines the system that exists to protect public health," said state Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald.
He continued, "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."
Breen is being hit with approximately $300,000 in fines for falsifying the medical records of her child patients.
The pellets were reportedly marketed as a sufficient replacement to standard vaccinations, but are not approved for use by any federal agencies.
New York officials say the parents of children who received the oral pellets were aware of the midwife's decision.
"The scheme suggests that the persons in parental relation to the affected children sought out and paid Breen related to their children’s immunizations," Health Department spokeswoman Erin Clary said, according to a report from The New York Times.
Police say the falsification of medical records began in 2019 when New York ended religious exemptions for vaccination requirements due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The rollback of long-standing carve-outs for religious families left approximately 26,000 children unable to attend class unless their vaccinations were updated.
The homeopathic pellets were claimed to treat a variety of illnesses, including polio, hepatitis and measles.
Health Department officials say Breen has thus far paid approximately $150,000 – half of the total fines handed down to her by authorities.
The rest of the fines have been suspended as long as her practice agrees to end the administration of vaccines and does not attempt to falsify records in the future.
