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Federal Circuit Reverses Denial of Vaccine Injury Claim |
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| National Law Journal |
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| June 26, 2009 |
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| “A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision reversing the U.S. Court of Federal Claims' denial of a vaccine injury claim highlights the widening gulf between the Federal Circuit and Federal Claims court on vaccine cases. On June 18, the Federal Circuit reversed the Federal Claims court's decision to deny the petitioner compensation under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The Federal Circuit case, brought on behalf of Enrique Andreu, alleged that he began having seizures the day after receiving a diphtheria, whole-cell pertussis and tetanus (DPT) vaccine at the age of eight weeks. According to the case, the seizure disorder ultimately led to a low IQ and language and developmental delays..." |
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Litigation, Regulation, and Education - Protecting the Public's Health
through Childhood Immunization |
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| New England Journal of Medicine |
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| June 11, 2009 |
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| "Recently, three special masters of
the U.S. Court of Federal Claims issued carefully reasoned, strongly
worded opinions rejecting claims that medical and scientific evidence
could demonstrate causal links between thimerosal-containing vaccines or
measles–mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccination and the development of chronic
health conditions such as autism, immune dysfunction, and
gastrointestinal dysfunction..." |
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When Vaccine Injury Claims Go to Court |
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| New England Journal of Medicine |
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| June 11, 2009 |
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| "In February 2009, the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) released decisions for the
first three test cases heard under the program's Omnibus Autism
Proceeding. In each of the cases - Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Hazlehurst v. Secretary of Health and Human Services,
and Snyder v. Secretary of Health and Human Services - the petitioners
alleged that a child's autism spectrum disorder was caused by the
combination of the measles– mumps–rubella (MMR) vaccine and
thimerosal-containing vaccines. The decisions will have a substantial
effect on vaccine policy and practice in the United States and will
influence the analysis of more than 5300 similar, pending claims..." |
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Supreme Court Interested in Vaccine Lawsuit Shield |
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| Bloomberg |
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| June 8, 2009 |
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| "The U.S. Supreme Court expressed
interest in an appeal by Madison-based Wyeth and units of
GlaxoSmithKline Plc that seeks to give the pharmaceutical industry a
broader shield from lawsuits over injuries allegedly caused by vaccines.
The justices sought the Obama administration's views on a Georgia
Supreme Court ruling that allowed a lawsuit by the family of an autistic
boy injected with vaccines containing the mercury-based preservative
thimerosal. The state court said a 1986 federal law that protects
vaccine makers doesn't preclude suits claiming that a manufacturer
should have used a safer formulation..." |
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Why Does the Vaccine/Autism Controversy Live On?: Research has soundly
disproved the alleged connection, yet fears about vaccines continue to
be a major risk to public health. |
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| Discover Magazine |
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| June 2009 |
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| "Vaccines do not cause autism. That
was the ruling in each of three critical test cases handed down on
February 12 by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C.
After a decade of speculation, argument, and analysis—often filled with
vitriol on both sides—the court specifically denied any link between the
combination of the MMR vaccine and vaccines with thimerosal (a
mercury-based preservative) and the spectrum of disorders associated
with autism. But these rulings, though seemingly definitive, have done
little to quell the angry debate, which has severe implications for
American public health..." |
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Doctor Groups Seek Overturn of Vaccine Jurisdiction Ruling |
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| MedPage Today |
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| April 10, 2009 |
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| "Several medical societies are asking
the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a lower-court ruling that would expose
vaccine manufacturers to litigation in state courts. In October, the
Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously that state courts could hear
cases involving alleged vaccine design defects, even though the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Act of 1986 established a national "vaccine
court" to hear such suits. Now the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP),
the American Medical Association (AMA), and eight other groups have
filed an amicus brief in the case, which is currently before the U.S.
Supreme Court..." |
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Op-ed: Science Trumps Speculation: MMR not linked to autism |
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| American Medical News |
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| April 6, 2009 |
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| "A special vaccine court dismissed
claims that the vaccine can cause the cognitive disorder. The pitched
debate regarding the purported link between autism and the measles,
mumps and rubella vaccine -- a battle viewed on both sides as critical
to shielding the defenseless from harm -- took the encouraging turn for
which many physicians were hoping and landed in favor of protecting
public health..." |
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Evidence Supports Vaccines |
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| Joliet Herald News (IL) |
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| March 11, 2009 |
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| "A new book defending childhood
vaccines, along with a recent court decision affirming that there seems
to be no connection between vaccines and autism, should calm the nerves
of anxious parents, physicians say. The book, 'Autism's False Prophets,'
by pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit, is meant to shoot down celebrities and
the handful of physicians Offit calls, 'fringe scientists' who believe
childhood vaccinations, or the mercury preservative once used in them,
cause autism in children..." |
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Landmark Ruling Finds No Link Between Vaccine and Autism: Physicians
applauded the special court's finding and hope parents who had refused
vaccines will now have their children immunize |
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| American Medical News |
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| March 2, 2009 |
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| "Vaccine supporters rejoiced Feb. 12
when judges in a special federal court rejected the theory that the
measles, mumps and rubella vaccine combined with the preservative
thimerosal caused the disabling autism that affected three children and
their families. The three had served as the petitioners in test cases
representing about 5,000 families who sought damages from the National
Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. The families believed vaccines,
particularly the MMR vaccine administered to their children as infants,
caused the disorder..." |
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Op-ed: A dose of reality on vaccines and autism |
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| Los Angeles Times |
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| February 25, 2009 |
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| "A special court found no significant
link between the two, but that probably won't mean anything to a vocal
group of parents who keep the debate alive. The unsubstantiated belief
that vaccines are to blame for increasing rates of autism has diverted
too much attention from the quest to find the causes of this complex
syndrome. Sadly, a decision by the nation's vaccine court won't make
much difference to the very vocal parents who refuse to let this theory
die..." |
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Judging Autism |
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| Salon.com |
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| February 19, 2009 |
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| "Health and medicine got a big
headline last week: "Vaccines Didn't Cause Autism, Court Rules." The
details have been extensively discussed, but here's the gist of the
story: Three special federal judges working for the government's Vaccine
Injury Compensation Program issued three separate decisions in what's
become known as the Autism Omnibus Trial. The trial is a class-action
lawsuit in which almost 5,500 families have sued the government,
claiming routine childhood vaccines caused their children to develop
autism. Last Thursday, each judge, known as a special master, reviewed
the claim of one family, and in each case, ruled against it. Physicians
praised the decisions, calling it great day for children and science.
Anti-vaccination activists declared it unjust, wrong and unfair..." |
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Editorial: Autism and Vaccines |
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| The Star-Ledger |
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| February 18, 2009 |
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| "That fallacy is what lies at the
root of the hysteria over a supposed link between autism and the Measles
Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine. Last week a federal court confirmed what
has been the mainstream view of the scientific community from the
beginning: The vaccine does not cause autism. The decision by a special
court set up to evaluate claims for compensation was a blow to families
who feel they have been victimized by vaccine makers. The court
concluded those families have, in fact, been victimized by 'bad science
conducted to support litigation.' Backing that up was an article in the
London Sunday Times that detailed how doctors in England had distorted
data to create the vaccine panic..." |
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Op-ed: Shot of Good Sense |
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| Wall Street Journal |
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| February 14, 2009 |
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| "Science got a booster shot this week
when a special court in Washington confirmed what scientists and
pediatricians have been saying for years: Vaccines are not a cause of
autism in children.The verdict, which came in a case seeking
compensation from the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program,
should help reassure parents who haven't been sure whom to trust about
their child's health. "It was abundantly clear that petitioners'
theories of causation were speculative and unpersuasive," the court
wrote..." |
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Commentary by Campbell Brown: Get Your Children Vaccinated for Measles
Watch the video |
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| February 13, 2009 |
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| "What I am about to say, I know, is
controversial. And I know that a lot of people are going to disagree
with me. But as a mother, with a second child on the way, I believe this
is vital to the safety of our children and must be said. The verdict is
in. There is no connection between vaccines and autism. And it is time
that all of us get our children vaccinated..." |
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Editorial: Vaccines Exonerated on Autism |
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| New York Times |
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| February 12, 2009 |
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| "A special federal vaccine court
issued three devastating verdicts on Thursday that should help demolish
lingering fears that childhood vaccines can and have caused autism. The
verdicts won’t satisfy die-hard adherents of the theory that the medical
establishment is recklessly harming their children. But the vast
majority of parents ought to accept the verdicts as persuasive evidence
that no child need forgo vaccinations against dangerous diseases out of
fear that the vaccines might cause autism..." |
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Court Says Vaccine Not to Blame for Autism |
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| New York Times |
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| February 12, 2009 |
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| "In a blow to the movement arguing
that vaccines lead to autism, a special court ruled on Thursday against
three families seeking compensation from the federal vaccine-injury
fund. Both sides in the debate have been awaiting decisions in these
test cases since hearings began in 2007; more than 5,000 similar claims
have been filed. In the three cases, each decided by a judge called a
special master, the court found that the families had not shown that
their children’s autism was brought on by substances in the vaccines —
either the measles virus in the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or
its combination with thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative that was
used in most childhood vaccines until 2001..." |
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Court Rules Autism Not Caused by Childhood Vaccines |
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| Washington Post |
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| February 12, 2009 |
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| "Thousands of parents who claimed
that childhood vaccines had caused their children to develop autism are
wrong and not entitled to federal compensation, a special court ruled
today in three decisions with far-reaching implications for a bitterly
fought medical controversy. The long-awaited decision on three test
cases is a severe blow to a grass-roots movement that has argued --
predominantly through books, magazines and the Internet -- that
children's shots have been responsible for the surge in autism diagnoses
in the United States in recent decades. The vast majority of the
scientific establishment, backed by federal health agencies, has
strenuously argued there is no link between vaccines and autism, and
warned that scaring parents away from vaccinating their youngsters
places children at risk for a host of serious childhood diseases..." |
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U.S. Vaccine Court Denies Family's Autism Case |
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| Reuters |
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| February 12, 2009 |
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| "A special U.S. court ruled against
three families on Thursday who claimed vaccines caused their children's
autism. The Vaccine Court Omnibus Autism Proceeding ruled against the
parents of Michelle Cedillo, Colten Snyder and William Yates Hazlehurst,
who had claimed that a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine had combined
with other vaccine ingredients to damage the three children.
"Unfortunately, the Cedillos have been misled by physicians who are
guilty, in my view, of gross medical misjudgment," Special Master George
Hastings, a former tax claims expert at the Department of Justice, wrote
in the 183-page Cedillo ruling..." |
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| Court Hears More Claims of Vaccine-Autism Link |
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| New York Times |
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| May 13, 2008 |
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| "The United States Court of Federal Claims began another hearing on Monday to decide whether a vaccine additive led thousands of children to become autistic. The hearing is the second in a series of three in which the court is considering whether the government should pay millions of dollars to the parents of some 4,800 autistic children. In this hearing, parents are claiming that thimerosal, a preservative that contains mercury, damaged their children’s brains. Thimerosal was removed from all routinely administered childhood vaccines by 2001..." |
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| Op-ed: CDC Aims to Appease Vaccine Critics |
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| Author: Arthur Allen |
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| Washington Independent |
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| April 14, 2008 |
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| "One autistic girl -- a 9 year old from Atlanta whose illness is linked to an underlying medical condition -- has suddenly shifted the debate on the possible link between vaccines and autism. It’s not that Hannah Poling’s case significantly alters the evidence. But it has introduced uncertainties that pose a logical stumbling block for officials defending vaccines. This has created a defensive posture in the Dept. of Health and Human Services, which was already struggling to maintain parental confidence in vaccination amid a number of small measles outbreaks around the country..." |
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| Public Forum to Address Safety Issues on Vaccines |
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| New York Times |
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| April 11, 2008 |
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| "In the midst of yet another controversy about whether vaccines cause autism, the federal government will hold its first ever public meeting on Friday to discuss a government wide research agenda to explore the safety of vaccines. The meeting is intended to help defuse years of criticism from vaccine skeptics that the government is hiding what it knows about vaccine safety or failing to investigate the issue diligently..." |
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| Vaccine Court's Ruling Adds to Confusion over Autism Link |
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| American Medical News |
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| April 1, 2008 |
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| "Physicians are being called upon, once again, to address concerns about the safety of childhood vaccines. This time families' queries are driven by a special vaccine court's decision to pay for the care of a young girl injured by vaccines. The court ruled last fall that 9-year-old Hannah Poling's underlying mitochondrial disorder was aggravated by the shots which she received as a toddler and resulted in brain dysfunction and 'features of autism spectrum disorder.'..." |
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| Op-ed: Inoculated Against Facts |
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| Author: Paul A. Offit, MD |
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| New York Times |
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| March 31, 2008 |
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| "On March 6, Terry and Jon Poling stood outside a federal courthouse in Atlanta, Ga., with their 9-year-old daughter Hannah and announced that the federal government had admitted that vaccines had contributed to her autism. The news was shocking. Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the American Academy of Pediatrics have steadfastly assured the public that vaccines do not cause autism. Now, in a special vaccine claims court, the federal government appeared to have said exactly the opposite. What happened?..." |
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| Op-ed: Fear over Vaccines and Autism |
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| Author: Ned Calonge, MD |
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| Denver Post |
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| March 30, 2008 |
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| "Vaccinations do not cause autism. Certainly, we are past due in dedicating the appropriate resources to look for the potential causes — and in identifying effective therapies — for the very serious condition of autism. But the March "Vaccine Court" decision, a single legal settlement involving an unfortunate child suffering from a rare heritable disorder, serves as an unnecessary distraction from this course. The worst decision parents could make as a result of this isolated event would be to avoid immunizing their children against serious childhood disease, where the risks are real and proven..." |
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