SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Doctor Jay Gordon is a pediatrician in Santa Monica, California. More than h...

1. Doctor explains why he lets kids avoid the measles vaccine
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Doctor Jay Gordon is a pediatrician in Santa Monica, California. More than
half his patients have delayed vaccinating their children for measles or decided not to.
"This measles outbreak does not pose a great risk to a healthy child," said Dr. Gordon. "And quite
frankly I don't think it poses any risk to a healthy child."
Dr. Jay Gordon
CBS News
If somebody with measles walked into Dr. Gordon's office, 90 percent of the unvaccinated people
who come in contact with them would get measles. I asked Dr. Gordon to explain how that type of
contagion isn't a risk.
"You just said it, they'd get measles," Dr. Gordon replied. "Not meningitis, not the plague, not Ebola,
they'd get measles. Measles is almost an always a benign childhood illness."
CBS News

2. Dr. Gordon has signed hundreds of "personal belief exemptions," which allow parents to bypass laws
requiring vaccinations. I asked him if it's still a personal choice to help bring back a disease that we
had largely eradicated from the population.
"Individual parents making that decision are not the ones bringing back measles," answered Dr.
Gordon. "Measles isn't coming back. We have 70 cases of measles right now and we have 30 million
Californians."
Play Video
CBS This Morning
Dr. Fauci: It's a "shame" children are not being vaccinated for measles
The measles outbreak with roots in Disneyland continues to spread, with at least 75 confirmed cases
in six states. At least 54 of those cases hav...
But in 1962 - the year before the measles vaccine - there were 481,530 cases of measles nationwide.
It killed 408 people.
The vast majority of doctors support vaccination including Dr. Deborah Lehman at Cedars Sinai
Medical Center.
"People don't remember children staying in dark rooms because they have measles and the light
hurts their eyes and developing brain swelling and serious developmental problems," said Dr.
Lehman. "We've given people a false sense of security and it's situations like this, outbreaks like this
that really remind us of the importance of these diseases and really the benefit of vaccine."

3. Play Video
CBS Evening News
How do you know if you're at risk of catching measles?
Reports of the measles outbreak in Disneyland is prompting people to ask the big question: How do
you know if you are immune to the virus? Dr. J...
Many parents who chose not to vaccinate are having a sudden change of heart. Doctor Gordon gave
35 MMR shots Monday, that's more than he gave all of last year.
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