Families will make case for vaccine link to autism

[motivez]

WASHINGTON - Families claiming that a mercury-based preservative in vaccines triggers autism will challenge mainstream medicine Monday as they take their case to a federal court.

They seek vindication and financial redress from a government fund that helps people injured by shots.

Two 10-year-old boys from Portland, Ore., will serve as test cases that determine whether the children and their families in similar situations should be compensated. Attorneys for the boys will attempt to show the boys were happy, healthy and developing normally. But, after being exposed to vaccines with thimerosal, they began to regress and show symptoms of autism.

Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood vaccines, except flu vaccines that are not packaged in single-doses. The CDC says single-dose flu shots currently are available only in limited quantities. In 2004, a committee with the Institute of Medicine concluded there was no credible evidence that vaccines containing thimerosal caused autism.

Overall, nearly 4,900 families have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children. Lawyers for the families will present three different theories of how vaccines caused autism.

The Office of Special Masters of the claims court has instructed the plaintiffs to designate three test cases for each of the three theories — nine cases in all — and has assigned three special masters to handle the cases. Three cases in the first category were heard last year, but no decisions have been reached.

The two cases beginning Monday are among the three that focus on the second theory of causation: that thimerosal-containing vaccines alone cause autism. The plaintiff in the third case originally scheduled for hearing this month has withdrawn and lawyers and court officials are working to agree on substitute case.

Hearings in the test cases for the third theory of causation are scheduled in mid-September.

Lawyers for the petitioning families in the cases being heard this month say they will present evidence that injections with thimerosal deposit a form of mercury in the brain. That mercury excites certain brain cells that stay chronically activated trying to get rid of the intrusion.

"In some kids, there's enough of it that it sets off this chronic neuroinflammatory pattern that can lead to regressive autism," said attorney Mike Williams.

In the end, the families' attorneys hope to convince the special master hearing their case that thimerosal belongs on the list of causes for the inflammation that leads to regressive autism.

To win, the attorneys for the two boys, William Mead and Jordan King, will have to show that it"s more likely than not that the vaccine actually caused the injury.

Many members of the medical community are skeptical of the families' claims. They worry that the claims about the dangers of vaccines could cause some people to forgo vaccines that prevent illness.

"I think that what's so endearing to me about the anti-vaccine people is they're perfectly willing to go from one hypothesis to the next without a backward glance," said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life and affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with others. Dr. Andrew Gerber, a psychiatrist, said that medical experts don't have a comprehensive understanding of what causes autism, but they do know there is a strong hereditary component.

Toxins from the environment could play a role, but currently, data does not support that they do, Gerber said.

Arguments are scheduled to go on throughout the month. A final decision could take several more months. Claims that are successful would result in compensation taking into account lost earnings after age 18 and up to $250,000 for pain and suffering.

The families or the federal government can also appeal the decision of the special master to the Court of Federal Claims or to a federal appeals court.

The court Web site says more than 12,500 claims have been filed since creation of the program in 1987, including more than 5,300 autism cases, and that more than $1.7 billion has been paid in claims. It says there is now more than $2.7 billion a trust fund supported by an excise tax on each dose of vaccine covered by the program.

Families will make case for vaccine link to autism - Yahoo! News

Some background: Background Information Re: Thimerosal/Autism trial. | US Court of Federal Claims

I know there's several folks on here who think there's a link, so I thought this might be interesting to discuss.. especially since at least one of them is libertarian leaning

Do you guys think the government should compensate families if a link can be proven?

I mean, they do require you to vaccinate your children if they'll be attending public school, something everyone in the country should have access to since it's paid by tax dollars..

[Ardentfrost]

If it's required by the government and a link is made, they absolutely should have to pay. And no, this isn't against any libertarian ideals, because we feel people who give of themselves to serve the country in the military should be compensated and promises kept as well. People shouldn't have to pay MORE when the government fucks them up. And hopefully something like that would make more people realize that the government is made up of a bunch of fallible people and should not be trusted to do good by citizens.

[thewise1]

What ardentfrost said...

I don't know if there is a link or not, and I'm not horribly worried about it since the chances are pretty low even if there is, but I really do get annoyed with the people who get all up in arms when you don't give a kid all the recommended shots. Just a side note.

[TankRizzo]

I'm with them. If the govt. required it, I don't think it's overboard to expect compensation.

the spike in reported cases of autism is alarming though. You'd think that if it's a new classification issue it would be easy to figure out.

[lew]

If the govt. required the inoculation, then the govt. should pay. But what is the govt? It's taxpayers. So, I should pay to repair something when my money went there in the first place that exacted the damage even when I didn't want my money to go there? That is fucked up and one of the many reasons why govt. shouldn't be involved in anything of this nature.

I don't really know if I like the idea of the "govt." paying for damages, but I sure don't have a problem with the individuals that forced the vaccines to pay for them.

It's a tough issue

[motivez]

Well, was it really *forced* though?

I mean, the parents had the option of not putting their children in a school that required the vaccinations.

[lew]

Originally Posted by motivez

Well, was it really *forced* though?

I mean, the parents had the option of not putting their children in a school that required the vaccinations.

But when you're dealing with forced public education, the issue again becomes hazy.

[motivez]

Originally Posted by lew

But when you're dealing with forced public education, the issue again becomes hazy.

Forced public education?

No one forces anyone to go to public school, there's other options available to the parent at all times, like home school

[lew]

Originally Posted by motivez

Forced public education?

No one forces anyone to go to public school, there's other options available to the parent at all times, like home school

When parents are jailed (or their kids are taken away) because parents don't educate their children, and with the biases from the govt. against home schooling and private schooling, yes, we do have forced public education.

[motivez]

I'm still not seeing how it's forced.. thousands (at least) go to home school every day, many more go to private school.

The state isn't coming and literally forcing injections, or forcing them to go to public school so long as parents are providing them with an education (which has to meet certain standards, which IMO is an appropriate check)

[thewise1]

Originally Posted by motivez

I'm still not seeing how it's forced.. thousands (at least) go to home school every day, many more go to private school.

The state isn't coming and literally forcing injections, or forcing them to go to public school so long as parents are providing them with an education (which has to meet certain standards, which IMO is an appropriate check)

It's forced for a poor uneducated parent, because they can't meet the standards and they can't afford private school

Not trying to be argumentative, and I realize that's a tiny segment of the population as the standards to homeschool are pretty lax

[motivez]

Originally Posted by thewise1

It's forced for a poor uneducated parent, because they can't meet the standards and they can't afford private school

Not trying to be argumentative, and I realize that's a tiny segment of the population as the standards to homeschool are pretty lax

What would the libertarian argument be for those people if public school wasn't available though?

I always thought it was a "well, tough luck"

I would doubt that any of the families who are suing are in the position of being too poor to "afford" home school

[thewise1]

Originally Posted by motivez

What would the libertarian argument be for those people if public school wasn't available though?

I always thought it was a "well, tough luck"

I would doubt that any of the families who are suing are in the position of being too poor to "afford" home school

I don't know what affording homeschool has to do with it - I said private school.

Homeschooling requires that the parents meet a certain set of standards, which I'm nor rabidly against or anything, but that means that someone who is uneducated and poor cannot homeschool or pay for private school, and thus is forced to send their kids to public school.

I agree that the chances of the families involved in this case are probably not too poor/uneducated to send their kids to private school or homeschool.

[Ardentfrost]

Originally Posted by motivez

What would the libertarian argument be for those people if public school wasn't available though?

I always thought it was a "well, tough luck"

Callous people might say "tough luck" but libertarians think that it should be the communities that band together to provide for their poor individually (not organized by the government). That might be through local churches, NPO's, private grants, or whatever. (and I'm not limiting the help to come from people within the community, I'm just saying smaller groups of people who want to provide a charity).

No one who WANTED to be educated would go without. But some people get pissy and push the fact that some people wouldn't WANT to get educated. Of course, those same people aren't getting educated now, and just end up costing us money for something useless to them.

[Kytro]

Originally Posted by TankRizzo

I'm with them. If the govt. required it, I don't think it's overboard to expect compensation.

the spike in reported cases of autism is alarming though. You'd think that if it's a new classification issue it would be easy to figure out.

If they prove a link, then fair enough, but it would need to be a significant link and not simply a correlation.

[7960]

Originally Posted by motivez

Do you guys think the government should compensate families if a link can be proven?

Only if they knew it caused it and they covered it up.

they do require you to vaccinate your children...

No they don't. One signature and you do not have to vaccinate your kids.

[7960]

Originally Posted by TankRizzo

the spike in reported cases of autism is alarming though.

but countries that banned thermosil (that's it, right?) years and years ago are still showing increased cases of autism.

[motivez]

Originally Posted by 7960

Only if they knew it caused it and they covered it up.

No they don't. One signature and you do not have to vaccinate your kids.

Elaborate?

I thought you had to be vaccinated to attend public school

[thewise1]

Originally Posted by 7960

No they don't. One signature and you do not have to vaccinate your kids.

Didn't know that. I've been told by doctors, teachers, and other random people here in Washington that it's a requirement, but I never bothered checking to validate their statements as it's not an issue for me anyway.