- Jeanette Breen, who operates Baldwin Midwifery on Long Island, was fined $300,000 for violating the state immunization registry law
- New York State Health Department said she gave roughly 1,500 school age-children homeopathic oral pellets instead of vaccines
- The affected children are not allowed to return to school until they receive the correct vaccinations
A New York midwife has been fined for creating false immunization records of roughly 1,500 children and giving them homeopathic pellets instead of vaccines.
Jeanette Breen, who operates Baldwin Midwifery on Long Island, must pay $300,000 after an investigation found she violated the state immunization registry law, according to the New York State Department of Health.
All of the affected children, concerning a period from July 2020 to December 2022, are not allowed to attend school until they have been immunized against measles, mumps, rubella, polio, chickenpox, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and a host of other diseases.
Breen gave her patients a series of homeopathic oral pellets that have not been authorized by the FDA or CDC, rather than giving them jabs. She administered a total of 12,449 phony immunizations to around 1,500 kids.
‘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.
The health department said Breen began administering the pellets in September 2019, less than three months after a new state law that ended non-medical exemptions from New York’s school vaccine requirements took effect.
In New York State, children attending all schools, including public, private and religious schools, must received the required amount of doses of vaccines to attend.
The health department said all of the affected children must be fully up to date with their required age group immunizations, or in the process of receiving them, before they can return to school.
‘By intentionally falsifying immunization records for students, this licensed health care professional not only endangered the health and safety of our school communities but also undermined public trust,’ said State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa.
Director of Investigations Joseph Giovannetti said, ‘This enforcement action is the culmination of a first-of-its-kind investigation in which the Department’s Bureau of Investigations, Division of Legal Affairs, worked with the Department’s subject-matter experts to uncover a widespread scheme to falsify required school vaccinations.’
‘Anyone involved in immunization fraud is on notice: Rooting out, combating, and preventing all forms of vaccination fraud is a top priority for the Bureau of Investigations, and we will continue to bring enforcement action against any offender who endangers the health of our communities and abuses our public health systems with this type of illegal activity.’
Breen has paid $150,000 of the $300,000 fine and the remainder will be suspended as long as she complies with all other requirements of her agreement.
She must never again administer any immunization that must be reported to the state and is permanently banned from accessing the state’s immunization records system.
Breen’s attorney David Eskew told DailyMail.com, ‘Suffice it to say, Ms. Breen provided excellent midwifery services for many years to many families, especially on Long Island. She is now toward the end of her career and she is a private person who did not and does not want to seek any publicity.’
‘From her perspective, this matter is over, done with, and closed and she is now moving on with her life.’
According to her website, Breen graduated from Columbia University’s Midwifery Program in 1984 and is licensed to practice in New York and New Jersey.
The health department said, ‘Breen had a history of helping patients try to avoid mandatory immunization. For example, in fall 2017 she wrote a request for exemption on behalf of a patient who was required to be vaccinated under an employer’s influenza-vaccination policy.’
They said at the time Breen had only meet the patient once and based the request on an uncomplicated pregnancy.
