Pro-life vid of day: Pregnant nurse fired for refusing flu shot
by LauraLoo
Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, registered nurse Dreonna Breton was fired from her job after she refused a mandatory flu vaccine for fear it could potentially harm her preborn child.
The Bretons, along with their 19-month-old son, Westen, do not regret her decision. After going through two miscarriages, she didn’t want to take any chances.
“We know we did the right thing,” Dreonna said.
“It was very emotional,” she said of her miscarriages in March and June. “It’s not something I’ve gotten over. I mean, we put ornaments on our tree for the babies.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INT7BZKOrLU[/youtube]
Email dailyvid@jillstanek.com with your video suggestions.
[HT: Fox32 Chicago]
Jan.01, 2014 12:00 pm |
Video of the day |
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
So much for choice.
Good decision Dreonna!
I’m pretty sure healthcare facilities have mandatory flu vaccination for staff because it’s deadly risky to many patients (particularly the elderly, small children, or immunocompromised individuals, these groups make up most patients in most healthcare facilities) and vaccination will prevent death. It’s good they require mandatory vaccinations.
I feel like they could have worked with her more though, possibly moved her into a non-patient care position or light duty or let her take some extra maternity leave or take leave early. But it’s their business, they can fire at will. Wish they hadn’t though.
She could have worn a mask and offered to do so. They wouldn’t let her. And ALL vaccines “shed”. It isn’t necessarily risk free for patients to be around medical personnel who have been vaccinated.
I have a friend who vaccinated her son at her pediatrician’s urging and he got H1N1 and now she has it too and she is pregnant. Flu shots don’t work, they are full of toxins that can cause miscarriage and they don’t protect patients. It is all about making money for Big Pharma.
The issue of health hazard from vaccine shedding is from the live attenuated forms, such as oral polio. This does not apply to injectable flu vaccines which do not use whole virus, but it does apply to intranasal flu vaccine.
One valid point that the nurse has is that government and corporations are very quick to mandate vaccines which have not been well studied in various subpopulations.
Vaccines are most useful where hygiene and cleanliness for disease prevention are not possible. Sometimes it is unclear whether the risk outweighs the benefit. Mal-distribution and mishandling of vaccines often trumps any consideration of who would benefit most from them.
Public health polices and incentives are often unevenly and nonsensically applied.
I found the media coverage of this Nurse Breton’s plight somewhat interesting in the light of past events.
“But it’s their business, they can fire at will.”
No DLPL, no one can fire you at will. An employer, whether in the private or public sector, has to show “good cause” and anyone can litigate and receive damages or reinstatement to the job. Ms. Breton has a good chance of litigating her firing: is “getting a flu shot” in the employee handbook? Was it an explicit or implicit policy and is there a precedent for termination? If Ms. Breton can show the arbitrary nature of her termination, she will prevail.
“It’s good they require mandatory vaccinations.”
No DLPL: flu shots have been somewhat successful for the young and the elderly but not lately due to the new strands that do not respond to the vaccination. The flu shot seems to be more of an illusion nowadays.
Hi Thomas R,
You hit the nail on the head. Flu shots are somewhere between almost worthless and worthless.
I’ve never had one in my life and I’m not starting now. How ironic that more of my co workers have gotten sick from the shot and suffered long lasting ill effects while I’ve remained healthy as an ox. I also bitterly resent these police state tactics of forcing people to inject dangerous, worthless substances into themselves. Our hospital tried it and we could get a written exemption, which I did. I knew a doctor who would do it for me.
Exercising good health measures can do more to protect you than an flu vaccine. The shot gives people a false sense of security.
So until the flu gods decree otherwise, I’ll wear a mask, absurd as it is. It is full of germs and probably a lot more contaminated and threatening to a patient than any flu.
I’m a vaccine proponent BIG TIME. But people should certainly be able to opt out (even when I think that’s foolish), especially for a vaccine as useless as the flu vaccine. It’s the only vaccine I refuse to get.
Good for her!!
“No DLPL, no one can fire you at will. An employer, whether in the private or public sector, has to show “good cause” and anyone can litigate and receive damages or reinstatement to the job.”
This is 100% incorrect. States that have “at will” employment (like PA, where this nurse is from) can fire for basically anything, as long as they have don’t break a contract and don’t break federal discrimination laws. http://www.wolfbaldwin.com/Articles/Terminating-the-At-Will-Employee.shtml And it’s not even relevant in this case, because they had a policy she did not want to follow, which if you read the article she signed when she was hired.
I swear, Thomas, sometimes I think you just make up things that are completely inaccurate becausee you think they sound correct.
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm
“ But people should certainly be able to opt out (even when I think that’s foolish), especially for a vaccine as useless as the flu vaccine. It’s the only vaccine I refuse to get.”
Yeah, like legally. I’m iffy on unvaccinated kids going to schools because vaccine preventable diseases are making such a comeback, but hopefully that will get better soon as more people realize that vaccines are an incredibly important public health tool. I do still think a private employer should be able to fire this woman for refusing though, it’s perfectly legal and within their rights as business owners.
“I swear, Thomas, sometimes I think you just make up things that are completely inaccurate becausee you think they sound correct.”
Hi DLPL formerly known as Jack – its already been established that you argue just to argue but I swear, very often I think you do so to contradict conservatives just because.
If you can argue just to argue whatever the topic, I am certainly allowed to firmly proclaim that things are not as cut and dry with Ms. Breton’s situation as they would appear to a liberal.
So what’s your rejoinder to the PA employment laws that do show that firing at will is legal, and that this company was most likely in their rights to fire Ms Breton? Again you don’t answer the facts, you just disagree with me. Who’s arguing to argue?
It’s weird because strong employer’s rights are generally considered conservative but now they are liberal because I personally agree with them? Okay.
Most ridiculous thing ever. I post a comment. You disagree with the facts of my statement. I post something to support my statement, and I’m just arguing to argue with conservatives (even though I’m arguing what’s generally a conservative viewpoint). Done.
I don’t think an employer should be able to force any medical decision on its employees. It’s very different from expecting a certain behavior or wearing uniforms. I’m trying to think of an area where I wouldn’t feel this way, but nothing comes to mind off the top of my head.
The same goes for schools, I guess. I agree w/ everything you said, but conceptually I’m very hesitant to give the state power to force parents to do something to their kids in order to gain access to something they pay taxes for. I don’t care whether their reason for opting out is medical, religious, or just raw stupidity (I realize there are those here who see no distinction between the last two). However, I think every effort should be made to debunk the anti vaccine nonsense.
“I don’t think an employer should be able to force any medical decision on its employees. It’s very different from expecting a certain behavior or wearing uniforms. I’m trying to think of an area where I wouldn’t feel this way, but nothing comes to mind off the top of my head.”
I don’t see it as forcing though. If you think about it, it’s the employer’s facility. No one is forcing someone to work there that doesn’t believe in vaccines, or does not wish to abide by the vaccination rules for whatever reasons (religious, moral, being ill-informed). Do you think that healthcare facilities should be required to employ those who refuse to vaccinate for hepatitis and such? I don’t think the government should be able to force anyone to vaccinate for hepatitis, but I don’t see the logic behind forcing employers to employ those who would be putting patients at risk. It just seems like it makes more sense to give the employers the choice to employ or not based on if the employees are willing to fulfill what that facility has decided to require. But I don’t know for sure, it seems difficult to balance the employees rights with the employer’s. Maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to fire for no vaccination, but they should be allowed to not hire based on vaccination views, and fire if it turns the employee lied and refuses to abide by prior agreement?
“The same goes for schools, I guess. I agree w/ everything you said, but conceptually I’m very hesitant to give the state power to force parents to do something to their kids in order to gain access to something they pay taxes for. I don’t care whether their reason for opting out is medical, religious, or just raw stupidity (I realize there are those here who see no distinction between the last two). ”
Yeah that’s why I’m iffy on it. I’m just really concerned at the current spread of almost completely preventable illnesses, that is actually causing deaths. But yeah in general I’m leery of state power to demand things like medical treatment. Maybe education will fix it.
I get what you’re saying. I’ll have to think more about the employment issue b/c I am in favor of employers having a lot of leeway to dictate what goes in their workplaces. It just rubs me the wrong way to have a condition of employment be to take a certain medication/submit to medical procedures.
“I swear, Thomas, sometimes I think you just make up things that are completely inaccurate becausee you think they sound correct.” – I wonder if it isn’t more case of making things up that are completely inaccurate because he wishes they were correct. And hopes others might believe them.
Hi DLPL formerly known as Jack – its already been established that you argue just to argue – has it? By who? Those who don’t like being contradicted when what they say is wrong? Having inaccuracies pointed out?
but I swear, very often I think you do so to contradict conservatives just because. – nah, it’s just that conservatives are so often wrong that they may feel it’s like that.
“Those who don’t like being contradicted when what they say is wrong? Having inaccuracies pointed out?”
Well, he contradicted me. I think it’s more I was supposed to agree with his nonfactual information just because? Who knows, there’s no way to win besides “you’re right, you’re always right even when you’re factually incorrect. And you have to agree that you suck.”. If I wanted THAT I would have stayed married.
And it’s stupid because stronger employer right’s is traditionally conservative, it doesn’t magically become liberal when I agree with it. If that was true I would have claimed gun rights and pro-life as a leftist ideal years ago.
I agree that she got fired. Why should the hospital put the patients at risk just because she doesn’t want to put her unborn fetus at risk? Her scientific evidence is not correct.
Steven,
Aren’t you pro choice?
Hi DLPL, thanks for honoring my comment with TWO responses. I had no idea I touched a nerve of this magnitude. :)
Steven,
Aren’t you pro-choice?
The lady had a choice. No one forced her to do anything with or to her own body.