Janet Lucas | Oppose HB1671

Honorable Chairman and Committee Members, I write in strong opposition to HB 1671, a bill which would put in danger the most vulnerable of our citizens within the environment where they should receive the greatest protection. Making it easier for unvaccinated individuals to introduce a communicable disease into a health care setting is inviting a catastrophic outbreak among immunocompromised patients. Frail infants in neonatal intensive care units, organ transplant patients, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, elderly patients in nursing homes are all put in danger by unvaccinated students, trainees, and trained staff members. Then to threaten health care facilities and providers with punishment for trying to prevent that catastrophe from occurring is coercing them to commit malpractice by violating the primary tenet of medical ethics: first do no harm.. Vote ITL on this dangerous, anti-patient bill. Respectfully, Rep. Janet Lucas Grafton County District 7 House Health and Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee New Hampshire Commission on Aging Co-Chair, Systems of Care for Health Aging in New Hampshire Advisory Council Retired Physician, Board Certified Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists