Paul Thomas

Paul Norman Thomas was born March 27, 1957, in Portland, Oregon, and grew up in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). He earned his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School in 1985 and completed pediatric residencies at UC San Francisco (Fresno) and UC San Diego, finishing in 1988. He settled in Portland and built a pediatric practice that grew to serve approximately 15,000 patients under the brand 'Integrative Pediatrics.'

Thomas developed a reputation as a vaccine-skeptical pediatrician who would honor parental preferences not to vaccinate, which attracted a large anti-vaccine clientele from around the Pacific Northwest. He was recognized by mainstream medical organizations early in his career — named Top Pediatrician by Castle Connolly multiple times — before his practice philosophy diverged sharply from evidence-based medicine. In 2016, he co-authored The Vaccine-Friendly Plan with science writer Jennifer Margulis, which presented a delayed vaccination schedule as scientifically superior without any supporting clinical trial data.

In December 2020, the Oregon Medical Board suspended Thomas's license on an emergency basis, citing findings that his under-vaccination approach had led directly to patient harm. The board documented multiple cases including 10-month-old twins who required five-day hospitalizations for a vaccine-preventable infection, and a patient who contracted tetanus and spent two months in intensive care. The board found Thomas had engaged in 'grossly negligent' practice and had manipulated parents during clinic visits by asking them how they would feel if their child developed autism from vaccination — an emotionally coercive use of a scientifically refuted claim.

A vaxxed-versus-unvaxxed study Thomas co-published in November 2020 — timed just before his suspension — was retracted by its journal in August 2021 for methodological failures and unsupported conclusions. Thomas sued the Oregon Medical Board for defamation, attempted to use the courts to obstruct the investigation, and appealed to the Supreme Court. He ultimately surrendered his Oregon medical license in 2022 and received an indefinite suspension of his Washington State license in March 2023. He continues to present himself as a martyr for medical freedom.

“The 'Vaccine-Friendly Plan' alternative schedule is safer than the CDC-recommended schedule, with lower rates of chronic illness in his patients”

Thomas co-authored a 2020 paper in MDPI's International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health claiming his under-vaccinated patients had better health outcomes. The paper was retracted by the journal for 'methodological issues' and conclusions 'not supported by strong scientific data.' The Oregon Medical Board found the opposite was true — his unvaccinated patients were hospitalized

“Vaccines cause autism, and parents should be warned of this risk”

The Oregon Medical Board's amended complaint documented that Thomas repeatedly verbally connected vaccines with autism during clinic visits, asking parents how awful they would feel if their child got autism and they could have prevented it — a manipulative framing of a scientifically refuted claim that pressured families into under-vaccination.

“Informed consent means pediatricians should support parents who choose not to vaccinate”

Informed consent requires providing accurate risk-benefit information. Thomas provided systematically distorted information, overstating vaccine risks and understating disease risks. The medical standard of care requires pediatricians to recommend the evidence-based vaccine schedule and document genuine contraindications — not to facilitate refusal based on debunked fears.