PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Department of Health and a union representing health-care workers in hospitals and nursing homes recently set aside their court dispute over state regulations requiring that the workers get flu immunizations.
The department required health-care workers to get immunized or, if they refused, to wear surgical masks when having contact with patients, in an effort to help reduce the spread of flu to patients. The SEIU Healthcare Employees Union, District 1199, in a suit filed in December, argued that the regulations violated due-process and collective-bargaining rights.
The union withdrew its suit as the flu season was winding down, saying it hoped to reach a compromise with the health department.
Among other things, the union's suit claimed: "There is no clinical evidence that vaccinating healthcare workers protects patients."
PolitiFact Rhode Island examined the claim and ruled it False. Read the complete analysis here.