O.C. doctor, a leading vaccine skeptic, put on probation by California Medical Board

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. -- (LA Times/KTLA) -- The Medical Board of California this week ordered that Dr. Bob Sears, an Orange County pediatrician and leading vaccine skeptic, be put on probation for 35 months.

The medical board had accused Sears of gross negligence for writing a doctor's note for a 2-year-old boy exempting him from all childhood vaccinations. Sears agreed to settle the case.

Under the decision, Sears can keep practicing medicine but will be required to take medical education courses for 40 hours a year, as well as an ethics class, and also be monitored by a fellow doctor. He also must notify all hospital and medical facilities where he practices of the order.

Both public health advocates and vaccine skeptics had been closely watching the case against Sears. Many saw Sears as a test case for how California will enforce a strict new vaccination law that makes it harder for parents to get out of vaccinating their children.