The Supreme Court of Connecticut has, for the second time in three months, ruled that the state Department of Children and Families cannot vaccinate children in its custody without explicit parental consent. News outlets have proclaimed in alarmist headlines that “State Can’t Vaccinate Kids in Temporary Custody,” but that’s untrue – Connecticut can continue to vaccinate children in its temporary custody, as long as the parents agree. The state is not actually prohibited from vaccinating any and all children in its custody, but the decision is still concerning from a public health perspective.
Read moreNot Your Grandfather's Preemption: Proposed Federal Preemption of State Medical Malpractice Cases
During this past spring and summer’s debates over Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, GOP leaders insisted that states should be given greater flexibility over health care. Their support for states’ rights relating to health care, however, seems to be fickle.
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