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Documents obtained by ICAN’s legal team reveal a 2019 presentation by a purportedly prominent bioethicist, Dr. Arthur Caplan of Langone Medical Center at New York University (NYU). The presentation to the National Vaccine Advisory Committee outlined a strategic framework to increase vaccination rates—not through improved safety or informed consent—but through coercion and mandates.
Dr. Caplan’s “medical ethics” presentation began with a disclosure of his financial entanglements with numerous pharmaceutical companies, which, of course, is not surprising.
A central theme of Caplan’s presentation was the systematic restriction of vaccine exemptions. Caplan noted that in 2019 five states barred religious exemptions, and this supposed “bioethicist” suggested the completely unethical approach of having all other states follow suit and eliminate all non-medical exemptions.
He highlighted California’s infamous bill SB 277 (which removed non-medical exemptions) and Michigan’s 2014 policy change (which made it harder to get philosophical exemptions) as models for restricting parental rights. Caplan even framed parental beliefs as “bogus values” that should not “override protection of children.”
Perhaps most concerning is the explicit advocacy for manipulation tactics. He acknowledged that “facts alone are not enough to increase vax rates” and “facts sometimes look weaker than they should,” which tacitly admits he is unable to persuade people about vaccination on the merits.
This is why Caplan’s strategy focused on social pressure and public shaming. He advised using ethics arguments to “guilt hesitators and resistors” and to characterize those opposed to vaccine mandates as “selfish, bad neighbors, indifferent to the vulnerable.”
Caplan is the kind of person our public health authorities consult with—all paid for with taxpayer money, of course. The framing of parental rights as obstacles to be overcome—rather than fundamental liberties to be protected—is disturbing and yet frequently seen in our public health bureaucracy.
ICAN remains committed to transparency and to preserving parental rights and will continue to expose efforts that seek to undermine informed consent and medical freedom.
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