This past week three decisions were handed down denying that vaccines caused autism in three children. The cases are known as "Cedillo," Hazlehurst," and "Snyder" and were decided by three separate "Special Masters."
The simplest analogy involves the countless dozens of court decisions about cigarettes and cancer over the past fifty years. There was no "proof" which satisfied courts, judges and juries for decades. Common sense and eventually the scientific community and the government finally acknowledged that the tobacco industry was at fault. The same will be found true of the vaccine manufacturers, but I hope it doesn't take fifty more years.
The pharmaceutical industry controls which research gets into journals and which does not. This creates public perception of vaccine risks and benefits which may be at odds with what is actually observed in the medical community.
The "Vaccine Court" has already awarded over two billion dollars in compensation to families who successfully showed that they or their children had suffered harm from routine vaccination.
I have worked with hundreds of parents who are completely certain that their children were "normal" prior to receiving certain vaccines and then developed autism and other problems within a short period of time after getting the shots.
This is most definitely not scientific proof, but I cannot ignore thirty years of my own personal observations and experience.
I've received a lot of email this week about the rulings of the Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The complete decisions can be found here:
http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/node/5026
"It's a great day for science and I'd like to think it's also a great day for children with autism," said Dr. Paul Offit, chief of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine (a standard childhood immunization that does not contain thimerosal).
The latest estimate is that Dr. Offit's share of the Rotateq revenues is $29,000,000 to $55,000,000. I think he has a conflict of interest here.
Selectively and slowly vaccinating our kids is the safest course of action.
JNG MD
