Current:Home > MarketsSome children tied to NY nurse’s fake vaccine scheme are barred from school -FinanceMind
Some children tied to NY nurse’s fake vaccine scheme are barred from school
View
Date:2025-04-18 11:51:27
NEW YORK (AP) — A suburban New York school district has barred patients of a former nurse practitioner who pleaded guilty to running a fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination card scheme.
The move by school officials in the Long Island hamlet of Plainedge comes nearly three years after Julie DeVuono, the owner of Wild Child Pediatric Healthcare in Amityville, and an employee were charged with forging vaccination cards and pocketing more than $1.5 million from the scheme.
When DeVuono was arrested in January 2022, prosecutors said she was handing out fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and charging $220 for adults and $85 for children. Officers said they found $900,000 in cash when they searched DeVuono’s home.
DeVuono pleaded guilty to money laundering and forgery in September 2023 and was sentenced in June to 840 hours of community service where she now lives in Pennsylvania.
She said after her sentencing that she believed front-line workers had the right to refuse vaccines. “If those people feared the vaccine more than they feared getting COVID, anybody in our society has the right to decide for themselves,” DeVuono said.
Meanwhile, the repercussions of her scheme continue, with New York state health officials sending subpoenas last month to more than 100 school districts asking for vaccination records of about 750 children who had been patients of DeVuono and her former practice, Wild Child Pediatrics.
Newsday reports that more than 50 parents of former Wild Child patients are challenging the state’s and school districts’ efforts to either subpoena their children’s records or exclude them from school.
In Plainedge, at least two other former patients of the practice have been barred from the classroom and are now being home-schooled, Superintendent Edward A. Salina Jr. told the newspaper.
DeVuono’s efforts to help parents, government employees and others skip immunizations came as New York state enacted some of the strictest COVID-19 vaccination rules in the nation, affecting many public employees and, in New York City, patrons of restaurants and other businesses.
Vaccine skepticism has grown in the years since COVID-19 emerged and then waned as a threat, and childhood vaccination rates for diseases including measles and polio have fallen.
veryGood! (557)
Related
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- China's early reaction to U.S.-Taiwan meeting is muted, but there may be more forceful measures to come
- How A Joke TikTok About Country Music Stereotypes Hit The Radio
- Reporters Reveal 'Ugly Truth' Of How Facebook Enables Hate Groups And Disinformation
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Google And Facebook Mandate Vaccines For Employees At U.S. Offices
- Check Out the Most Surprising Celeb Transformations of the Week
- Courteney Cox Reveals Getting Facial Fillers Are Her Biggest Beauty Regret
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- A small town on Ireland's coast is eagerly preparing for a Biden visit
Ranking
- Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
- A Tech Firm Has Blocked Some Governments From Using Its Spyware Over Misuse Claims
- The White House Blamed China For Hacking Microsoft. China Is Pointing Fingers Back
- Fortnite Is Letting You Relive MLK's 'I Have A Dream' Speech
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- China conducting military drills near Taiwan, says they serve as a stern warning
- How To Have Your Vaccine Confirmation On You At All Times
- Brittney Griner writing memoir on unfathomable Russian imprisonment
Recommendation
South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
Jenna Ortega Has Some Changes in Mind for Wednesday Season 2
U.S. balks as Russian official under international arrest warrant claims Ukrainian kids kidnapped for their safety
California Sues Gaming Giant Activision Blizzard Over Unequal Pay, Sexual Harassment
The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
Marburg virus outbreak: CDC issues alert as 2 countries in Africa battle spread of deadly disease
Your Radio, TV And Cellphone May Start Blaring Today. Do Not Be Alarmed
Jason Aldean's 'Try That in a Small Town' scores record-breaking sales despite controversy