Former Tennessee vax chief sues state for defamation

Dr. Michelle Fiscus, who was Tennessee's top vaccine official until she was unceremoniously fired in July amid Republican attacks on the state health department, is now suing the state in federal court for defamation. 

The saga of the former medical director of the state's Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization Program has gotten more scandalous at every turn. Fiscus' firing came after Republicans in the state legislature turned their ire on the Tennessee Department of Health because of youth-focused vaccine outreach. They singled out Fiscus in particular because she had signed a letter to providers about the Mature Minor Doctrine — a legal principle created by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1987 that allows physicians to treat certain minors ages 14 to 18 without parental consent. When she was fired, Fiscus said publicly that her ouster was exactly what it appeared to be — a political sacrifice offered by Gov. Bill Lee's administration to extreme elements within his party.