Vaccination Policy

At NOVA Pediatric Orthopaedics, we strive to provide evidence-based medicine options when caring for your children, and we pride ourselves on maintaining a pressure-free, shared decision making environment.

Misinformation has flooded the arena that was previously the domain of validated, peer-reviewed research. As board certified, and state licensed professionals, it is our duty to commit to caring for our patients in a safe environment. To that end, we will not be accepting patients who are new to the providers and are eligible for, and have not received their MMR vaccinations. Exceptions will be made only for valid medical reasons not to be vaccinated. 

The recommended vaccine schedule for MMR cannot start before age six months, and our practice sees numerous infants younger than that everyday. We must provide those patients with a safe environment and we cannot do that if unvaccinated children might expose them to an incredibly communicable and dangerous virus. Measles can linger for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a room, and vulnerable patients (unvaccinated infants or immunosuppressed cancer patients, for example) have about 90% chance of contracting the virus. 

The evidence for the effectiveness and safety of these vaccines has been proven by prospective studies that have been repeated in numerous countries. In a Cochrane Review of 138 studies with a total of 23 million patients,  the authors showed no causative link of the vaccine to autism while providing a 97% effectiveness in preventing infections. The number of patients who have participated in studies on this single vaccine exceed the total patients in the pediatric orthoapedic literature. 

If you wish to schedule a discussion regarding this policy with our medical director, Dr. Gantsoudes, you may do so. There is a nonrefundable fee for this discussion.

If you wish to learn more about the safety and effectiveness of the MMR vaccine (and others) please visit this website.