Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Kirby on HuffPo: Vaccine Court Autism Debate Continues

Managing Editor's Note: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Kirby have teamed up on Huffington Post.  Click HERE to read and comment on ANOTHER AUTISM CASE WINS IN VACCINE COURT at Huffington Post. Here's a preview:

On February 12, the federal "Vaccine Court" in Washington issued a sweeping ruling in three highly touted "test cases" against families who claimed that their childrens' autism had been caused by vaccines. The Special Masters in those three cases found that Petitioners failed to establish causation between MMR vaccines, the mercury-laced vaccine preservative thimerosal, and autism (the court decision, which is under appeal, deferred any finding on a thimerosal-only theory of causation). The rulings could have a significant precedential impact on some 5,000 families who opted to bring their cases in the Omnibus Autism Proceedings (OAP) hoping that the vaccine court would officially hold that that the MMR vaccine or thimerosal had caused autism in their children.

The New York Times joined the government Health Agency (HRSA) and its big pharma allies hailing the decisions as proof that the scientific doubts about vaccine safety had finally been "demolished." The US Department of Health and Human services said the rulings should "help reassure parents that vaccines do not cause autism." The Times, which has made itself a blind mouthpiece for HRSA and a leading defender of vaccine safety, joined crowing government and vaccine industry flacks applauding the decisions like giddy cheerleaders, rooting for the same court that many of these same voices viscously derided just one year ago, after Hannah Poling won compensation for her vaccine induced autism.

But last week, the parents of yet another child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were awarded a lump sum of more than $810,000 (plus an estimated $30-40,000 per year for autism services and care) in compensation by the Court, which ruled that the measels-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine had caused acute brain damage that led to his autism spectrum disorder.

Comments

[CM]

The oral polio vaccine contained live polio virus and was removed from the AAP schedule because it actually caused paralysis and death in some cases (the very symptoms it was supposed to prevent).

Similarly, one complication of the measles virus is chronic encephalitis. So why is it so hard for doctors to believe that the MMR (which contains LIVE measles virus) could, in some cases, cause chronic encephalitis?

This court case arrived at a perfectly sound and logical conclusion. So WHY are children still given the MMR 2 years later?

Could the risk of encephalitis with the MMR actually be even higher than the risk of encephalitis associated with the wild measles virus?
Consider these potential problems:

1. Dan Olmstead had reported previously that epidemiological studies observed that complications from the measles virus were more common when an area experienced a simultaneous measles and mumps outbreak.
(so shouldn't this vaccine be split up? Isn't that all Dr. Wakefield was suggesting when they decided to attack him?)
http://www.ageofautism.com/2009/01/olmsted-on-autism-autism-explosion-followed-big-change-in-mmr-shot.html#more

2. The MMR is frequently given at the same time as other vaccines (many of which contain aluminum). Aluminum damages the blood brain barrier by making it more permeable (a neurotoxic virus and a damaged BBB sounds like a dangerous combination in my opinion). In the aluminum study, the researchers noted that zinc helped to prevent this damage to to the blood brain barrier. So, could a child's zinc levels help to explain why some children are injured and others are not?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18786610

Many different factors can affect zinc levels such as:
* illness (diarrhea and certain viruses such as HSV deplete zinc levels)
* genetics (zinc deficiency occurs in some genetic conditions such as Wilson's Disease)
* diet (some foods impair zinc absorption, and some children may not eat enough zinc-containing foods.)

(But, as I always say, ask your child's doctor before making any medical decision. Even though zinc is absolutely vital, too much isn't healthy either. So don't give zinc supplements before asking your child's doctor)

[ObjectiveAutismDad]

Albert said: "Anyone here ever consider the possibility that maybe they just lost fair and square due to a lack of evidence to prove their case?". Sure, doesn't that mean this newly discovered case was WON fair and square? Because it was not proven in a court in one case but was in another ought to give an open minded observer pause.

If anyone thinks that this case is closed they are not being open minded. THAT is the major point of this finding. Vaccines DO cause autism -- at least as far as the law is concerned. Now we need to do more science to figure out how bad the situation is and discover what can be done to prevent it and what can be done to help those already afflicted. "Shut up and take your shots" doesn't work anymore.

[MMR needs to be banned]

"In his conclusion, Special Master Abell ruled that Petitioners had proven that the MMR had directly caused a brain inflammation illness called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) which, in turn, had caused the autism spectrum disorder PDD-NOS in the child:"

Okay, this proves that what the parents have been saying for years, that the MMR vaccine contributes to their child's autism, is true. So, shouldn't this vaccine be banned from being administered to kids? What is the CDC and the AAP saying about this?

I would like to see an official statement from the CDC and the AAP on this. Why have they been sitting on this information for close to 2 years now? Shouldn't Julie Gerberding be answerable to Congress, that is supposed to "serve the people?"

[saly-anne jones]

omg im from englang my doctors have been hassling me to get my 4 yr old son to have the mmr i refuse,my 12 year old son has not had it either and what gets me when they get mumphs when there older the mmr's run out by then anyway so if there going to be made sterile the mmr would have run out anyway.Its disgusting this country its all about money a tv programme in england called gmtv rang the prime minister every day to ask if hes son had had the mmr and they refused to answer.Its all about money at the end of the day for the drug companys. They shouldnt of vaccinated them in the start diseases like polio etc its different if your a good mum you can recognise when your childs not well i couldnt believe it when i readf your magazine there is hope! Ive asked my friend to print off these pages to take my doctors the next time they hassle me to vaccinate my son with 3 disease within the mmr vaccine 3 live viruses im not going to do it thanks sally jones kent england !!

[Twyla]

Wow, this is really something. Thank goodness for DK & RFK. I can't believe this case gets no publicity while the three Autism Omnibus cases are big headlines everywhere with articles claiming that the case is now closed and that all the science supports no link.

Mainstream reporters, where are your brains? Where are your eyes and ears?

Held hostage by pharma, I guess...

[Angela Warner]

Question??? Why all the different "special masters" .......

Huh..... Stinky poo - diarrhea - OMG and then - smearing (my personal fav) - thought this a while ago - like years!!!

Can we PLEASE have an answer?

I think Andy has given us one. And David by his side... WATCH OUT!

[Albert]

Anyone here ever consider the possibility that maybe they just lost fair and square due to a lack of evidence to prove their case?

[Kelli Ann Davis]

"Some children who have been compensated for vaccine injuries may have shown signs of autism before the decision to compensate," he added, "or may ultimately end up with autism or autistic symptoms, but we do not track cases on this basis."

And we wonder why we're in this predicament in the first place. CDC: Get a clue! It's absolutely *amazing* that you can "hunt down" a killer virus to the ends of the earth, and yet you are so utterly incompetent in regards to "tracking cases" and determining if the numbers of children with autism have increased during the last two decades.

If millions of children's lives weren't at stake I'd almost laugh at the absurdity of the situation but I can't because I witnessed first-hand the damage that the MMR vaccine caused to my son!

As far as I'm concerned, I'm adding SM Abell to my short list of individuals with some "balls" -- right alongside Bobby Kennedy Jr, David Kirby, Andrew Wakefield, Dan Olmsted, JB Handley, Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey,....and the list goes on!

Kelli Ann Davis
DC Political Liaison for Generation Rescue

[Jeff Ransom]

Everyone needs to read this from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and David Kirby, it is long, but this is so good. The more you read the better it gets.

[Caro]

When the vaccine court decisions concerning the 3 recent omnibus proceedings came up showing that the Special Masters had ruled against the families, the press was all over it like stink on poop smeared walls. The ink was hardly even dry before the world knew about it.

This decision was sat on for 2 years. I'm currently checking all of the major news outlets to see their fair and balanced coverage of this not-so-recent development.

Hmmmm.....not a single blurb! Fair and balanced coverage? Oy Vey!!!!!