Mom to Sue After Son Vaccinated at School Without Consent
Harold Hutchison /
A Louisiana mother is threatening to sue, claiming that her 16-year-old son was vaccinated for COVID-19 while at his Jefferson Parish high school without her consent.
Jennifer Ravain alleged that during a visit by an Ochsner Health System mobile vaccination clinic to East Jefferson High School, her son was allowed to sign a consent form and receive a COVID-19 vaccination despite the Louisiana Department of Health requirement of a parent’s signature for persons under 18 being vaccinated, WWL-TV reported.
G. Shelly Maturin, Ravain’s attorney, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that Ravain “is not necessarily against vaccines, but she wanted to discuss this with her child first, and she wanted to do more homework and research on possible side effects and whether the adverse health effects of the vaccine were worth the risk as opposed to her child contracting COVID without a vaccine and obtaining natural immunity.”
“A mobile vaccine unit was on campus at East Jefferson High School in Kenner, Louisiana, on Oct. 20, 2021. A nurse with Ochsner, presumably knowing my client to be below the age of consent, gave him a form to sign that would normally be signed by a parent or guardian and instructed him to sign his name, print, and date,” Maturin told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Maturin added that Ravain’s son “was under the impression that he was just signing up to get the shot at a later date, but was told that they were giving shots right then and there. Being 16, he felt pressure and took the shot.”
Maturin told The Daily Caller News Foundation that the 16-year-old received the Pfizer vaccine, later complaining of a sore arm and feeling “a little fatigued,” but adding that concern remains “over possible long-term side effects.”
“While we firmly believe in vaccinating adolescents to keep them safe from COVID-19, this should be done only with parental consent. Our team has been notified that a student was vaccinated without proper parental consent at a school vaccination event on October 20, 2021. We have procedures in place to ensure that all policies are followed; however, in this instance, this did not occur,” said Dr. Robert Hart, chief medical officer of Ochsner Health System, in a statement provided to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
Hart went on to say that Ochsner is “revising” its program of in-school vaccinations to “ensure that this does not happen again.”
“We offer our sincere regret and apology for any distress this has caused,” Hart added.
Jefferson Parish Public Schools Superintendent James Gray did not reply to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“A lawsuit will be filed shortly,” Maturin told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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