Federal Court Rules Against Link between Autism and Vaccines

Over the last decade, over 5,000 families filed claims with the federal Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) asserting that their children developed autism because of their immunizations, despite substantial scientific evidence to the contrary. In 2007, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims reviewed in depth three representative VICP cases of behalf of many families who believe that MMR vaccine, with or without additional vaccines that contained mercury preservative, caused autism (court transcripts at www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/omnibus-autism-proceeding). On February 12, 2009, the three judges in these cases ruled firmly against any link between vaccines and autism (decisions posted at www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/node/5026).

Coincidentally, on February 8, 2009, the Sunday Times newspaper in England alleged manipulation of data in the initial study from 1998 that implicated MMR vaccine as a possible cause of autism (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article5683643.ece). As you may recall, in 2004, ten of thirteen authors issued a retraction of the original study.

In 2008, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims reviewed three additional VICP cases regarding the theory that mercury-containing vaccines by themselves can cause autism. Decisions on these cases are anticipated later in 2009.