Louisiana Stops Promoting Mass Vaccination

Action of the Week, February 23, 2025

Louisiana Stops Promoting Mass Vaccination

On February 13, Louisiana Surgeon General sent shock waves through the conventional public health establishment in his state and beyond by releasing a memo that instructs Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) staff to stop promoting mass vaccination. The memo puts the kibosh on the types of vaccine arm-twisting that LDH previously conducted via media campaigns, community health fairs, and similar avenues.

Historically, the office of Surgeon General existed only at the federal level, but over the last two decades, a handful of states have established a state-level equivalent. In June 2024, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry created the position and named physician, veterinarian, and politician Dr. Ralph Abraham to fill it; from 2015 to 2021, Abraham represented Louisiana’s 5th congressional district.

As LDH Surgeon General, Abraham is “co-equal” to the LDH Secretary and a lead architect of health policy in the state. In a powerful news release issued the day after the memo, in which Abraham and Deputy Surgeon General Dr. Wyche Coleman, III outlined the broad strokes of their public health philosophy, the two indicated a willingness, both practical and courageous, to shake up the medical-pharmaceutical complex, prompting many in mainstream medicine and pharma to scream in protest.

Their comments with respect to the “greater good” ideology underlying mass vaccination are worth quoting at length:

“[P]ublic health agencies at the state and federal level have viewed it as a primary role to push pharmaceutical products, particularly vaccines. Some have even referred to this practice as the ‘cornerstone’ of public health. There are some appropriate examples of government recommendations…[b]ut promotion of specific pharmaceutical products rises to a different level, especially when the manufacturer is exempt from liability for harms caused by the drug, as is the case for many vaccines…. Perhaps there are some treatments that every human being should take, but they are few and far between, and things that are good generally don’t have to be pushed by the government. Medical decision-making is a zero-sum game: when outside forces get involved, patient autonomy is sacrificed.”

In making honesty, transparency, and respect for personal autonomy the centerpieces of their campaign to regain public trust, Drs. Abraham and Coleman have thrown down a gauntlet to the top health officials in other states, and we commend them for doing so.

And a tip of the hat to Louisiana Rep. Kathy Edmonston who alerted us to this good news from Louisiana.