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Jeanette Breen, a licensed midwife who ran Baldwin Midwifery, located in Baldwin, Nassau County, was issued what the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) dubbed an “unprecedented” fine of $300,000 for her scheme.
Starting at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, Breen began supplying patients with a series of oral pellets called the "Real Immunity Homeoprophylaxis Program." These fake pills are marketed as an alternative to vaccination by an out-of-state provider.
The pills Breen issued patients are not authorized or approved by either the Federal Drug Administration nor the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the NYSDOH, this scheme began just three months after New York State eliminated non-medical or religious exemptions to school immunization requirements.
In total, Breen is said to have issued 12,449 fake immunizations to about 1,500 school-aged students. The majority of these students were from Long Island but some were located as far away as Erie County.
Though the scheme continued through the COVID-19 pandemic, NYSDOH said that Breen did not give out fake COVID-19 vaccines. Instead, the false immunizations the midwife distributed included:
- Diphtheria;
- Tetanus toxoid-containing and pertussis vaccine (DTaP or Tdap);
- Hepatitis B;
- Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR);
- Polio;
- Chickenpox;
- Meningococcal conjugate (MenACWY) vaccines and boosters;
- Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate (HiB); and
- Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV).
All of these vaccines are required for school enrollment in New York (HiB and PCV vaccines are for pre-K and daycare only).
In addition, Breen gave out fake hepatitis A and flu shots, which are not required for school enrollment. She would report these false records to the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS).
Breen and NYSDOH reached a settlement, which the department says is the first of its kind, that includes her $300,000 penalty, requires that the midwife must never again administer vaccines that need to be reported to the NYSIIS, and permanently bans her access to the NYSIIS system.
As of publication, she has paid $150,000 of the fine. The other half is suspended, contingent on Breen following all public health laws.
NYSDOH has deleted all of the false immunization information and is in the process of informing the affected families that their children’s records are no longer valid. Students must receive all age-appropriate vaccines in order to return to school.
For more information regarding vaccine requirements for those affected, click here.
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