Exploring legal liability for parents of unvaccinated children

The current issue of First Impressions, the online companion to the Michigan Law Review, is titled "Liability for Exercising Personal Belief Exemptions from Vaccination." The issue consists of six commentaries from physicians, lawyers, public health scholars, and ethicists writing on the following topic:

"With the increased risk that the use of personal belief exemptions will limit the effectiveness of vaccination, this symposium addresses whether parents who refuse to vaccinate their children should be liable in tort to individuals who are infected and injured by the unvaccinated children."

We were asked to contribute to this symposium -- our article is available here (pdf). As a policy solution, advocating legal liability for parents of unvaccinated children seems inadvisable. From the paper, here's our conclusion...

"Efforts should be aimed at ensuring school-entry requirements are implemented only when a compelling public health need exists, as well as strengthening requirements for nonmedical exemptions so that they include only those with deeply held beliefs against vaccination. A program of research and public education should strive to demonstrate the continued safety of vaccination and inform parents about its importance to their children’s health. Holding parents of unvaccinated children liable to those whom their children infect would greatly exacerbate tensions, confusion, and controversy over vaccination, jeopardizing the public trust that vaccination has long deserved and on which the success of U.S. vaccination policy relies."