Commercial Law

The joined States is on the verge of a public wellbeing crisis. For decades, all 50 states have required that parents vaccinate their children against various infections, encompassing polio and measles, as a prerequisite to registering them in public schools. While practically all states have tailored their inoculation statutes to let off those with religious (and sometimes philosophical) objections to vaccines from these requirements, widespread use of these exemptions threatens to undermine many of the benefits of mandatory vaccinations, such as preserving herd immunity.

Since it is improbable that state governments will eliminate such exemptions outright, humanity should consider other methods of supplying incentives for vaccination and compensating those who have suffered due to a infection outbreak caused by a community's loss of herd immunity. This will propose using tort law as a mechanism for prevention and victim compensation while still preserving religious and philosophical exemptions to mandatory school vaccinations. Further it will present a short outline of mandatory school vaccinations and the dangers posed by widespread use of religious and philosophical exemptions. Part II will explore the promise role of tort law, with a specific focus on personal causes of activity against exact individuals and the possibility of defendant class action lawsuits.

Why Mandatory Vaccinations?

Institute mandatory immunization supplies as a prerequisite to public school conscription because it is the most proficient method of perpetuating herd immunity. Herd immunity is present in a community when such a high percentage of its constituents have been immunized from a specific disease that the disease will not gain a foothold in the community. Therefore, attaining and preserving herd immunity protects not only those who have been vaccinated, but also those with compromised or weak immune systems, such as the elderly, babies, and those afflicted with HIV.

While most scholars have suggested that state governments ...