The Medical Board of California is investigating four doctors for issuing questionable medical exemptions to children whose parents did not wish them to receive vaccinations, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday.
According to the paper, the doctors include two Sacramento-area pediatricians and two physicians in Santa Rosa.
A spokesman for the Medical Board declined to comment.
However, according to NBC News, the Board has requested at least some of the doctors hand over their patients' names and medical charts.
ABC7 News noted that San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera issued in May a subpoena for medical records from prominent anti-vaccine advocate Dr. Kenneth Stoller, in order to determine whether he provided unlawful medical exemptions.
Dr. Stoller's attorney, Rick Jaffe, told ABC7 that he has "some questions" about how his client's actions "could constitute a public a nuisance."
"I suspect that would be unprecedented," he added Jaffe.
Dr. Kelly Sutton, another of the doctors under investigation, offers a $97 "program" guiding anti-vax parents on how to get a medical exemption allowing their children to skip vaccines, the Daily Mail said.
The site quoted the California Healthline, which claimed Dr. Sutton issued at least one child a "lifelong medical exemption from all vaccines," for reasons which the family's other doctor, Dr. Wendy Cerny, could not understand.
When the family requested identical exemptions for their other two children, Dr. Cerny complained to the state health department, warning that perhaps Dr. Sutton and her colleague were "making easy money" on exemptions "not based in medical need," thereby placing others "at risk for contracting and spreading serious infectious diseases," California Healthline added.
The Daily Mail noted that though Dr. Robert Sears has been reprimanded for issuing unlawful exemptions, he continued issuing them even while on probation.
Dr. Michael Fielding Allen, a "holistic physician," exempted children from vaccines on the grounds of food allergies and a history of mental health issues, the side added. And Dr. Ron Kennedy, who runs an anti-aging clinic, has also issued medical exemptions for children.
Under California law, vaccinations are required unless the the child has a medical condition which contraindicates vaccination, such as a severely compromised immune system, children who have previously had a severe reaction to a vaccine, and those who are allergic to a vaccine ingredient.
Neither Dr. Sutton nor Dr. Allen responded to phone calls or emails, NBC News noted.