The New York State Department of Health says an Amityville pediatric clinic whose owner was convicted of falsifying COVID-19 vaccination records also falsified vaccination certificates for diseases including measles. We are investigating whether it was done.
The Nassau and Suffolk Health Departments are recommending that school districts require, although not mandatory, that children with immunization records from Wild Child Children’s Healthcare obtain proof of vaccination from another health care provider. ing.
Both health departments referred questions to the state regarding potential evidence that Wild Child falsified childhood immunization certificates.
The state health department on Friday did not say what prompted the investigation into Wild Child or what evidence it had collected.
What you need to know
New York State Department of Health Authorities are investigating whether an Amityville pediatric clinic whose owner was convicted of falsifying coronavirus vaccination records also forged vaccination certificates for diseases such as measles. .
Nassau and Suffolk Health Department recommends that school districts require children with vaccination records from Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare to obtain proof of vaccination from another health care provider.
Wild Child and his owner Julie DeVuono, De Buono’s lawyer said he falsified thousands of COVID-19 records. However, he denied that she had forged a non-coronavirus vaccination certificate.
“As this is the subject of a public investigation, the Department of Health is unable to comment at this time,” Department of Health spokesperson Daniel D’Souza said in a statement.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in an email Wednesday that there was “no evidence that anyone received a counterfeit non-COVID-19 vaccination card” from Wildchild.
But the agency did not respond to questions about whether it had investigated whether Wild Child and his owner, Julie DeVuono, had falsified records for childhood vaccinations, including for measles, mumps, hepatitis B and tetanus. There wasn’t.
Suffolk prosecutors say De Buono, a private practice nurse, made more than $1.5 million from June 2021 to January 2022 by charging up to $350 for each false entry on a COVID-19 vaccination card. Stated. She pleaded guilty to related charges in September.
Garden City attorney Jason Russo said thousands of people purchased fake cards. But he said DeBuono, who immunizes between 500 and 1,000 children a year, has never issued counterfeit cards for non-COVID-19 vaccines.
Some districts withdrew their recommendations.
Some districts have followed the health department’s recommendations, while others have reversed such policies after threats of legal action or calls from parents, said Long Island state attorneys Chad LaVeglia and James Mermigis. . The ability to request further proof of vaccination, according to Long Island attorneys Chad Laveglia and James Mermigis, who are representing several parents challenging the districts’ recommendations.
They said their clients’ children in the Wild Child case were vaccinated as children and do not need to be vaccinated again.
Mermigis said that because there is no evidence that DeBuono forged childhood immunization certificates, “I think there is serious overreach on the part of the school district and the Suffolk County and Nassau County Health Departments in recommending this.” . To me, it’s a civil rights issue. ”
In October, the county health department will subject students with Wild Child immunization records to blood tests to see if they have antibodies created by vaccinations against hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. We advised each school district to do so. For vaccines that cannot be detected by a blood test, departments recommend administering the vaccine to another health care provider.
The state requires Seven types of vaccines will be administered depending on age.
Mermigis said he may sue the Rocky Point Union Free School District for following Suffolk guidelines. He said he represents a family with two children attending Rocky Point schools and has spoken with two other Rocky Point families whose children have Wild Child vaccination certificates.
The district’s Superintendent Scott O’Brien told Newsday in a statement Thursday that Rocky Point schools “will follow the Department of Health’s guidance to ensure student vaccinations to keep everyone safe.” .
Mermigis’ earlier letter to Rocky Point and two other school districts said that following the health department’s recommendations would violate parents’ constitutional rights and that if his clients’ children were expelled from school, they would be legally required to do so. He warned that action would be taken.
Marmigis said Rocky Point’s attorneys said that as of Dec. 15, his client’s children would be “excluded from school” if they do not provide proof of vaccinations from a provider other than Wild Child. ” he said.
Rocky Point announced in a statement Friday afternoon that it will allow students to return to school after Dec. 15 as the district “continues to work with families affected by Wild Child Pediatrics.”
Lavalier represents Smithtown parents and said the city is also following the health department’s recommendations.
“The district is reviewing this matter and is postponing any decision regarding exclusion at this time,” Smithtown Central School District Superintendent Mark Seker said in a statement Friday.
Mermigis said the other two districts he sent warning letters to, Island Park and Eastport South Manor, have “backed down” and reversed their policies.
He said Island Park sent him a letter “saying it’s not mandatory and we won’t enforce it.”
Mara Harvey, a partner at the Melville law firm Lamb & Barnoski, which represents the school district, said the school district is required to follow the health department’s orders but is not legally obligated to follow the recommendations.
Marmigis said he recently spoke with parents in two other districts, Merrick and Miller Place, who said they have instituted the department’s guidelines. He said parents are trying to convince the district to reverse the policy without taking legal action.
Officials with the Merrick School District, Miller Place School District, Island Park School District and Eastport South Manor School District did not immediately respond to inquiries late Friday afternoon.
Marmigis said she doesn’t know why her parents, who live far away from Wild Child, traveled to Amityville for the vaccine.
The county health department said in a statement Friday that it does not know how many children in the district have vaccination certificates from Wild Child.
DeBuono and her corporation, Kids on Call Pediatric Nurse PC, were charged in September with two felony counts of money laundering and forgery in connection with the scheme, and another count of illegally obtaining her own oxycodone prescriptions. Pleaded guilty to a felony charge.
She agreed to surrender her nursing license, close her clinic and forfeit more than $1.25 million. Her sentence, which will include five years of probation and 840 hours of community service, is scheduled to be handed down Jan. 8 in Suffolk County Superior Court in Riverhead.