Long Island County locks out Wild Child Pediatric patients as parents fight exclusion

At least one Long Island school district has barred students who were patients of a former nurse accused by the state of falsifying vaccination records, as parents across the island fight measures to exclude their children.

The exclusions arise from a state investigation into the immunization records of children who were patients of former Amityville nurse Julie DeVuono and her practice, Wild Child Pediatrics.

The state Department of Health last month invalidated the vaccination records of 133 children on Long Island and one from Orange County for measles, mumps, diphtheria and other vaccinations because it said DeVuono had falsified them. She previously admitted to selling more than $1.2 million worth of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards as part of a criminal case.

The state sent subpoenas to more than 100 school districts seeking the immunization records of about 750 childhood children as it investigates the extent of DeVuono's alleged fraud

In some cases, parents have filed motions to quash subpoenas. But the parent of two students expelled from Plainedge schools said he had blood tests done to show his children had received some of the required vaccinations and provided him with paper records from Wild Child going back years. He said he was frustrated that it wasn't enough for the health department and school district.

“It's clear that we were vaccinated there,” said Plainedge School District board member Joseph Garcia, whose 7-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were unable to attend school as of Monday.

Garcia is among more than 50 parents of former wild child patients who are challenging in court or at the administrative level the state and school districts' efforts to either expel their children or obtain subpoena records.

Parents of more than 80 former DeVuono patients sued dozens of school districts, private schools and the Long Island State Department of Health last month, saying the citations and exclusions violate federal and state constitutions and state law. Nassau County Superior Court Judge Christopher T. McGrath dismissed the case Tuesday.

In Plainedge, two other former Wild Child patients were excluded and are now being homeschooled, Superintendent Edward A. Salina Jr. said.

Exclusion decisions are made by the state, not the district, he said.

The state health department checked these [records] and said these children needed to be excluded,” he said.

State Department of Health spokeswoman Erin Clary said the state has “alerted schools to students who we know are in violation based on our investigations” and that schools are required by law to exclude students who do not have the required vaccination unless they have a valid medical exemption.

When asked how many wild child patients were unable to attend school, she said the department “does not maintain real-time data on school exclusions.” County health departments referred questions to the state health department. Spokespeople for the state Department of Education did not respond to requests for comment.

Newsday reached out to 18 school districts Thursday that were either cited or in the headlines for having students with Wild Child vaccination records. Counties were asked whether a child had been excluded this year based on feral child vaccination records.

Ten counties declined to comment and three said children associated with Wild Child had their vaccination status cleared. Others did not respond to inquiries or said Wild Child had “no impact” on the district.

Garcia said his children were not among the 134 whose records were invalidated after he reviewed state health department records.

“If there is evidence that my children have not actually been vaccinated, we would re-vaccinate them,” he said.

“This is not an anti-vax thing,” he said. “I want my children to be protected. The idea of ​​my children getting polio or dying of mumps, measles or rubella – I would be a failure as a father if I let that happen.”

Christopher Renke, a Mineola attorney for Garcia, said the children's exclusion was “nothing more than guilt by association. Ultimately, it is these children who suffer.”

Renke said that although the state only accepts blood tests for antibodies from certain vaccines and not others, records showing Garcia's children had some antibodies indicate they have received all required vaccinations.

“I have yet to see any documentary evidence to suggest otherwise,” he said.

Renke said Tuesday's dismissal of the larger citation and expulsion case had no impact on Garcia's appeal to the state Department of Education to lift his children's expulsions. The ministry on Wednesday rejected a request to allow its children to attend school while it further examined the matter.

Garcia said he sent his oldest child to DeVuono shortly after his birth in 2014 and his other children after that. His oldest child will not be excluded, he said.

The state has said it does not comment on specific cases involving children.

Newsday reported in July that DeVuono had never reported administering a child vaccine in New York since she was licensed as a nurse in 2002 until 2019, shortly after the state eliminated exemptions for non-medical vaccines. The state requires that all vaccinations given to children be reported in its electronic immunization registry, Clary said.

Asked whether the state believes DeVuono administered legitimate vaccines to children at times, Clary said, “As this investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment.”

Garcia said he had Wild Child's paper records of vaccinations dating back to 2014 and didn't know why they weren't on the state registry.

“I had no idea that these recordings were not recorded properly,” he said.

Joseph Beyrouty, president of the Plainedge school board, said that in the end, “the person who is responsible for this, unfortunately, is the nurse, who did things that she shouldn't have done. It impacts a lot of people and hurts families.”

With Lisa Colangelo