http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirb...88323.html

Government Concedes Vaccine-Autism Case in Federal Court - Now What?
By David Kirby
Posted February 25, 2008 | 12:42 PM (EST)

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After years of insisting there is no evidence to link vaccines with the onset of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the US government has quietly conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims.
The unprecedented concession was filed on November 9, and sealed to protect the plaintiff's identify. It was obtained through individuals unrelated to the case.

The claim, one of 4,900 autism cases currently pending in Federal "Vaccine Court," was conceded by US Assistant Attorney General Peter Keisler and other Justice Department officials, on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services, the "defendant" in all Vaccine Court cases.

The child's claim against the government -- that mercury-containing vaccines were the cause of her autism -- was supposed to be one of three "test cases" for the thimerosal-autism theory currently under consideration by a three-member panel of Special Masters, the presiding justices in Federal Claims Court.

Keisler wrote that medical personnel at the HHS Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation (DVIC) had reviewed the case and "concluded that compensation is appropriate."

The doctors conceded that the child was healthy and developing normally until her 18-month well-baby visit, when she received vaccinations against nine different diseases all at once (two contained thimerosal).

Days later, the girl began spiraling downward into a cascade of illnesses and setbacks that, within months, presented as symptoms of autism, including: No response to verbal direction; loss of language skills; no eye contact; loss of "relatedness;" insomnia; incessant screaming; arching; and "watching the florescent lights repeatedly during examination."

Seven months after vaccination, the patient was diagnosed by Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a leading neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger Children's Hospital Neurology Clinic, with "regressive encephalopathy (brain disease) with features consistent with autistic spectrum disorder, following normal development." The girl also met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) official criteria for autism.

In its written concession, the government said the child had a pre-existing mitochondrial disorder that was "aggravated" by her shots, and which ultimately resulted in an ASD diagnosis.

"The vaccinations received on July 19, 2000, significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder," the concession says, "which predisposed her to deficits in cellular energy metabolism, and manifested as a regressive encephalopathy with features of ASD."

To read the rest of Mr. Kirby's piece and to post your comments, please visit
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirb...23.html.  

WHAT?!?!?!?

HOW?!?!?!?

Think the article explains it all. My son developed "normally" till 18 months as his doctor observed through videos of him and then at 20 months regressed as well. He lost speech/ eye contact / responding to his name. I just got the article from my other group and thought perhaps some would find it interesting as I did.

I...didn't find it interesting!

I was shocked, and I am now thinking that the Neurodiversity movement will lose face!

Aside from the fact that autism usually isn't noticed until about age two (either by the child developing typically at first or by others missing the signs, both of which are common).

I think the main reason that the loss of skills such as speech that is known to come so soon after vaccination is a combination of the fact that the normal time for those things to start or become noticeable and the stress of vaccine reactions.

The stress of a vaccine reaction (which could include fever and/or seizures) probably, by putting more stress on mind and body, makes it difficult or impossible for the child to function in the ways of typically developing children. Perhaps because of the timing of this, the developmental course is geared to a more atypical development - the kind we see in autistic people.

So if you take the tendency that typically developing children NOT exposed to vaccines suddenly develop autistically (is that a word?) around age two, combined with the stressor of all those vaccinations at the same time (especially if there's a reaction), would logically account for this correlation.

Unfortunately, many people who are only exposed to the surface issues, looking at just what the anti-vaccine autism-is-mercury-poisoning people say through the media, conclude that there is a compelling argument that it is the mercury, or the MMR vaccine itself, that caused autism, though the evidence used to support this actually more solidly supports an alternate explanation.

I do think that, while vaccine reactions (especially in young children) should be looked into, and not brushed off, that this turn of events will be wildly misconstrued and spun to make the statement that "if the US government concedes to us, then it must be true" despite the loud talk of how the government is in cohoots with the pharmaceutical industry -- which there seems to be actual corruption, but has little bearing on the science.

While vaccine safety and adverse reactions should be investigated (and where possible mitigated), certainly the consequences of NOT vaccinating are more frightening than those of vaccinating. Unfortunately, the fears in the public (especially if it is seen as the government validating the idea that vaccines cause autism) would pose a threat to the health of children if they choose not to vaccinate.

Yes, it is very unfortunate that something that was probably coincidental is going to be seen as being caused by the vaccine.

I doubt that this is even true.  Once there is one court ruling for compensation, then everyone else is going to want to get it too.  

I can just see it now, class action suit-- and all the parents get some paltry sum.  It is a total waste of effort trying to find blame for "autism".  Why not work on accommodations and acceptance of people with autism instead.

I agree. I dont believe it was the vaccines that "gave" him autism. I just think that the brain can handle the functions needed for a 1 year old and perhaps the complexity needed to continue his communication was too much and it was on overload. I'm not sure if I explained it right - couldnt really think of the words I wanted. My son got hives after his 18 month shots but nothing extreme. His speech is slowly coming back. He use to say a word a month which doctors said was weird. He now says yes to questions and has been saying things weekly. I hope he gets it back - that is really all that matters to me.

I definately think children with autism react differently to the shots and can't excrete the metals in them. I do vaccinate my son still. I know many parents from my other group that stopped. I do agree its dangerous.

The MMR vaccines doesnt have mercury- its a live virus which is why they think its an issue. My son had his at 12 months and was still developing "typically" at that time. However, if I think back there were a couple things I can recall that were maybe signs. He also played independently I just assumed he was different from his brother as all kids were but maybe it was the autism. I cant say for sure. There were other things.
I can see your point about this issue being "misconstrued and spun to make the statement that "if the US government concedes to us, then it must be true"  since that is why I found it so "interesting". I did get this article from my parent group were the vaccine/autism contraversy is discussed frequently.

Definately would be more beneficial to work on acceptance and understanding of autism then to try to get compensation.  If there was an understanding then maybe people wouldnt be so judgemental .

I remember when my son was first diagnosed a lot of moms were going to try to sue but like I told my husband I rather put my energies into getting him services then trying to sue. (that and I really didnt think it was the vaccines) I rather get him services then pad my bank account. By the time this is all resolved the parents waste so much time not helping their child when its the most opportune time to do so. Its really sad.

No study has ever been able to link Autism with vaccinations and there doesn't seem to be any difference in the rate of occurrence between those who are vaccinated and those who are not. As people have said earlier in the thread, there is a correlation between vaccines and the onset of Autism due to the fact that most vaccinations occur at 18 months and that is around the time when Autism can be detected, but there is no causation between the two.

Parents should not stop vaccinating their children because if they do, they are putting their children at risk as well as the rest of society. Vaccinations are not only given to stop the death of an individual, but to stop the death of a large group of people. Vaccinations have stopped some of the worst diseases and they must continue to be administered.

True, I know a mom who didnt vaccinate her second son and he was just diagnosed with autism as well.

I'm suspicious of anything David Kirby says about this.  He has obtained secret government documents from somebody completely unrelated to the case?  If they weren't related to the case how'd they steal the secret document and if they did get them how does he know they weren't altered before he saw them?  I mean this is about at the level of I heard by cousin say they met this guy who was a CIA agent and they said that... (blah, blah, blah)

It's a sealed document, so neither he nor we can determine the truth of anything said about them.

I just got this update from my other group :

"ABC News is still assessing the validity of this report, but we would like to be ready to responsibly cover this issue if the report does, in fact, prove to be true.In short, the column suggests that the federal government has chosen to concede to one case in which the plaintiff claims that her child developed features consistent with an autism spectrum disorder after receiving her vaccinations.  Based on this case, the column further suggests that something about the vaccines may trigger autism-like illness in children who are susceptible to mitochondrial disorders.Depending on what we find out, various ABC News platforms may be interested in covering this development."

I'll update once I find out anything.

Stress-vulnerability... Genetic vulnerability to autism; physical stress of severe vaccine reaction, illness, and growth... Not surprising that it shows up at age 2. It would probably show up anyway, triggered by the first time the child has a severe illness--such as the sort prevented by the vaccines.

Here's the hearing: ftp://autism.uscfc.uscourts.gov/autism/snyder.html

This is the only online source to assert this. Frankly, it seems premature since before closing arguments dates are set for post hearing briefs: Jan 23 for the petitioner and Mar 10 for the respondent. It also sounded like the court was after sealed documents from the UK, but I've not read in depth.

I did not know who David Kirby was, so I googled him. He published a book a couple of years ago about mercury in vaccines. I didn't click through, just knowing that was enough for me to maintain a healthy amount of skepticism.