Anti-vaccine doctor charged with gross negligence over bogus exemptions

Enlarge / A hypodermic needle sits on a tray next to a bandage and an alcohol wipe. (credit: SELF Magazine, Heather Hazzan / Flickr)

A San Diego-based doctor who single-handedly wrote at least a third of the area's vaccine exemptions has now been charged with gross and repeated negligence by California's state medical board. The news was first reported by the nonprofit news organization Voice of San Diego.

In the charging documents, the board accuses Dr. Tara Zandvliet of gross and repeated negligence for granting a permanent vaccine exemption for a 4-year-old girl based on irrelevant family medical information. The board also alleges Zandvliet failed to maintain adequate and accurate medical records and conducted herself in an unethical and inappropriate way that "demonstrates an unfitness to practice medicine."

As Ars reported earlier this year, an investigation by Voice of San Diego found that Zandvliet had issued 141 of the area's 486 medical vaccine exemptions since 2015. The second-highest number of medical exemptions by a single doctor in the area was 26. In the charging document, the board noted that Zandvliet admitted to issuing around 1,000 medical exemptions as of June 2019.

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