State voids 133 LI kids' vaccination records falsified by former nurse practitioner Julie DeVuono

The state voided vaccination records for 133 kids from Long Island because they were falsified by a former Amityville nurse practitioner who was arrested two years ago for selling fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, health officials said Monday.

The action was part of an ongoing investigation by the state into Julie DeVuono’s former practice, Wild Child Pediatrics. Investigators have determined she falsified over 1,500 routine pediatric vaccinations so far.

The fake records involved mandatory immunizations for children in day care and school to protect from diseases ranging from measles, mumps and rubella to chickenpox and polio. Officials said these students have 14 days to start getting vaccinated if they want to remain in school. The students included 106 from Suffolk County, 27 from Nassau County and one from Orange County.

In June, the state revealed DeVuono was facing administrative charges for falsely reporting 226 vaccines administered to 26 pediatric patients.

Newsday reported that the number of immunizations that DeVuono administered to young patients jumped from 153 in 2019 to 3,421 in 2020 and 981 in 2021. That increase coincided with the state ending religious and nonmedical exemptions for vaccines.

DeVuono, who now lives in Pennsylvania, could face fines of $2,000 for each falsified immunization record.

“Today’s actions, which mitigate the threat to public health created by Julie DeVuono and her yearslong pediatric vaccination scheme, will help keep communities across Long Island and beyond healthy and safe this school year,” Joseph Giovannetti, director of the state Health Department’s Division of Legal Affairs’ Bureau of Investigations, said in a statement.

The Health Department is currently contacting families of the children involved to tell them their vaccination records are invalid. The schools they attend have already been notified. The state did not disclose which districts the students attended.

DeVuono’s attorney, Jason Russo, of Garden City, said he was not aware of the state voiding vaccination records when contacted by Newsday on Monday.

"I have yet to see any evidence of this," he said.

Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York University and an expert on vaccine policy, said he believes DeVuono should be liable for the cost of the state identifying and revaccinating children who received the "bogus vaccines."

"She put their lives and those of others at avoidable risk," Caplan told Newsday in an email.

Law enforcement officials have said DeVuono agreed to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to the public through an agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2021. Instead, she and members of her staff trashed the vaccine vials and charged adult patients between $220 to $350 for a card that falsely stated they had received the shot. 

She was arrested in 2022 and pleaded guilty in September 2023 on a number of charges including money laundering and forgery. This June, DeVuono was sentenced to 6 months in jail, but she will be able to avoid that by participating in 840 hours of community service that does not include health care or medical practices. She was also required to surrender her nursing licenses and forfeit more than $1.2 million of proceeds from her COVID crimes.

The Nassau and Suffolk County health departments last year had recommended that school districts mandate that students who had been vaccinated at Wild Child show proof of immunization from another health care provider. But most districts backed down from that advice after pushback from parents.

Earlier this year, a Baldwin midwife received a $300,000 fine by the state Department of Heath for falsifying vaccination records for almost 1,500 children. Officials said Jeanette Breen gave her patients homeopathic "oral pellets" instead of vaccines but then registered them as vaccines with the state.

On Long Island, patients came from 81 of the region’s 124 school districts, a Newsday review of state records found. Breen acknowledged the falsification of 12,449 vaccine records, which began three months after the nonmedical exemptions ended.

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.