Mom upset after 6-year-old son gets flu vaccine without her consent

BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A Brunswick County parent is furious at her son’s school. She says her son was given a flu shot without her permission.

Kayla Amerson’s son Braxton attends Supply Elementary School.

“It’s not going to be swept under the rug,” Amerson said. “Something needs to be done about this, because like I said, it could’ve gone completely differently.”

Amerson says the county health department went to the school to give students a flu shot.

“If I want to get my child a flu shot, I will go to my child’s pediatrician,” she said. “That’s just my opinion.”

A form was sent to parents, but she did not give permission for the vaccination.

Amerson says she didn’t know about the shot until she picked up her son from school.

“When my son got in the car, he was like, ‘Mommy, I got a flu shot,'” Amerson said. “I turned around and went to the school. I talked to the principal and the school nurse. I come to find out they had my son mixed up with another child that wasn’t even in his class. Same grade, but different class.”

Amerson says she has reached out to the school, the board of education, and the health department.

“My son went through at least three or four different people and nobody verified his information,” she said. “The health department nurse, who actually gave him the shot, did not verify his information.”

The school district released a statement in response to the incident.

“We are aware of an isolated incident at one of our schools involving the flu shot program,” the school system wrote in a statement to WWAY. “Right now we are interviewing staff to get more insight on what happened and what procedures and protocols took place and are actively speaking with the parents of the child involved.”

WWAY reached out to the health department to find out how Amerson’s son ended up with the shot, but they deferred to HIPAA laws.

At this point, Amerson says she just wants to make sure this never happens to another child.

“I just want to prevent this from ever happening again, because what if he was allergic? It could’ve killed him.”

Amerson says the school gave her a statement Wednesday further explaining the incident. In the statement, they cited several procedural changes to make sure this never happens again:

• Students will wear their ID badges with them to the flu clinic.
• Kindergarten and 1st grade teacher of Teacher Assistants will escort those children to the clinic to aid or serve as a back up to verify a child’s identity.
• We will have a schedule for when each grade level reports and the spreadsheet will be given to each teacher who has a child with a signed permission form.