Vaccine Court: Hepatitis B Shot Caused MS

By David Kirby

All eyes are on Vaccine Court this week, as people await rulings in the autism “test cases” on MMR and thimerosal. But another omnibus proceeding involving Hepatitis B vaccine and autoimmune disorders in adults, including MS, has already been quietly ruling in favor of several petitioners. (HERE)

The most recent case was announced about a week ago. In it, the Court ruled that the victim, an adult female, had contracted a form of demyelinating disease and MS, and eventually died, after receiving the Hepatitis B vaccine series. It was just the most recent case in a rash of rulings in the omnibus proceeding dealing with hepatitis B vaccine and “demyelinating diseases such as transverse myelitis (TM), Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease (CIDP), and multiple sclerosis (MS),” according to court papers.

“Petitioner has prevailed on the issue of entitlement. The medical records during decedent’s final hospitalization reflect that she died from demyelinating disease. Not only did decedent have a vaccine injury, but also her death was vaccine-related,” wrote the Special Master in the case.

Interestingly, the US government chose not to present any expert witnesses, nor to contest the case any further.

But the family of the deceased woman had presented testimony from an expert witness who stated that, “It is biologically plausible for hepatitis B to cause demyelination because vaccines are composed of organic compounds of viral or bacterial origin, whether recombinant or otherwise, whose purpose is to initiate an immune response in the recipient,: the Court noted in the ruling. “But if any of the vaccine antigens shares a homology with the recipient’s antigens, the host’s immune response will attack both the vaccine antigens and the host’s antigens, resulting in an autoimmune response. This concept is also known as molecular mimicry and is well-established in immunology.”

In the last few years, it turns out, the Federal Vaccine Court has issued a number of rulings in favor of petitioners seeking compensation for Hepatitis B vaccine-related demyelinating diseases, especially MS.

What is also notable about all the Hep B rulings is that they fly in the face of the reasoned opinion of an IOM panel that looked into the matter in 2002. That committee determined that “the epidemiological evidence favors rejection of a causal relationship between the hepatitis B vaccine in adults and multiple sclerosis.” Likewise, the panel said that it “does not recommend that national and federal vaccine advisory bodies review the hepatitis B vaccine on the basis of concerns about demyelinating disorders.”

Apparently, Vaccine Court Special Masters are willing to make their rulings independent of what the IOM has decreed (and given the IOM’s spotty track record on the etiology of illnesses such as Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome, perhaps there is a solid legal underpinning for that).

So, what does any of this have to do with the autism cases? Perhaps nothing. But, if the autism Special Masters suggest that more research is needed, one area that scientists may want to explore is demyelination in autism and its many potential causes.

Myelin is the fatty acid sheath that protects and insulates nerve cells and the brain. Some people with autoimmune disorders, including MS, present with damage to myelin in the brain.

Myelin damage has long been suspected in autism, though the jury is still out on this question. One thing that does seem to be certain is that children with ASD appear to have unusually high levels of antibodies to myelin basic protein, or MBP. That would suggest they might have myelin damage as well. Some studies have also shown highly elevated levels (up to 90%) of MBP antibodies in ASD children who received the MMR vaccine. The development of MBP antibodies could possibly be caused by a reaction to the live measles virus in the vaccine, because the virus may mimic the molecular structure of MBP. (The finding of antibodies to MBP is also associated with MS, which is a demyelinating disorder).

This vaccine-myelin association was also supported by a study in the October, 2008 issue of the journal Neurology. It reported that exposure to Hep B vaccine in children was associated with a 50% increased risk for CNS inflammatory demyelination of 50 percent (OR: 1.50; 0.93–2.43). This was especially true for children who got GlaxoSmithKline’s Engerix B vaccine, in which case the risk was elevated by 74% (1.74; 1.03–2.95). Among ASD children with confirmed multiple sclerosis, the risk increased by 177% (2.77; 1.23–6.24).

“Hepatitis B vaccination does not generally increase the risk of CNS inflammatory demyelination in childhood,” the authors concluded. “However, the Engerix B vaccine appears to increase this risk, particularly for confirmed multiple sclerosis, in the longer term. Our results require confirmation in future studies.”

Of course more studies are needed, but it is becoming more difficult these days to argue that there is no active immune/inflammatory response going on in the brains of autistic individuals, and even harder to contest that MBP is associated with at least one aspect of that response, although there are likely others. The MBP findings are not 100% concordant, but there is a fair amount of supportive evidence.

Equally intriguing, along these lines, is a new study published in the Journal of Child Neurology. That paper reported that “anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein positivity” was found in a stunning 62.5% of the autistic children studied. And, a family history of autoimmunity was five times more common in ASD children (50%) than controls (9.4%).

“Anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein serum levels were significantly higher in autistic children than those without such history,” the authors wrote. “Autism could be, in part, one of the pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders. Further studies are warranted to shed light on the etiopathogenic role of anti-myelin-associated glycoprotein antibodies and the role of immunotherapy in autism.”

This information is tantalizing, to say the least. And it could provide new avenues of research into the role of vaccines, demyelinating diseases, “autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders,” and autism.

If the HepB series can destroy myelin in some kids and adults, and cause full-blown MS in adults, then is it really that “fringe” to investigate the plausibility of a biological mechanism whereby some vaccines (including MMR) in a subset of susceptible infants might produce symptoms that are characteristic of autism and/or other neuro-developmental disorders?

For years, the US Government and the IOM have insisted that Hepatitis B vaccine does not and can not cause MS. But the Federal Vaccine Court has now, essentially, overturned that opinion. Will the Court now do the same for vaccines and autism? I don’t think so – not this week. But it just might keep that door slightly ajar for the future.

David Kirby is author of Evidence of Harm and a contributor to Age of Autism.

 

Comments

[MommyToBe]

I am 38 years old, about to give birth to my first child and am being led to believe that I am CRAZY for not wanting to immunize my baby. I am so old fashioned that not only do I NOT want to know the sex of my child before we are introduced to each other, I intend to use cloth diapers.

Since my newborn baby should not be engaging in casual unprotected sex or intravenous drug usage my concerns began with the legitimacy of the Hepatitis B vaccine. My researching it's side effects have fueled my belief that this vaccine may be the culprit of my 25 year old nieces' debilitating and loosing battle with Relapse Remit Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) as immunizations are required for Post Secondary enrollments. She was completely normal, less than 18 months later wheelchair bound with lesions on 80% of her brain!!

I am NOT crazy, I am NOT a bad parent, I am NOT paranoid. "The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself" ~Archibald Macleish

[Marie-Anne Denayer, M.D.]

That case is far from straightforward.
DEVIC's disease is no longer considered a variant of MS. Although "auto-immune", the neuropathology is quite different, it remains confined to the optic nerves and the spinal cord and is characterized by the presence of necrotic, inflammatory lesions. The brain itself is spared.
An anti-aquaporin antibody is detected in most patients. Only hope for recovery of function(albeit unlikely) is the rapid initiation of treatment with IVIG in an attempt to bind and remove the abnormal antibodies.

It is a rare disorder when compared to MS.

The condition itself is not likely to kill the patient, however a bedbound hospitalized patient is at risk of acquiring infections of the urinary tract or pressure sores with secondary infections.

Sad case.

[Marie-Anne Denayer, M.D.]

My stance as a neurologist who specializes in the care of patients with MS: Hep B vaccination in adults can cause 3 types of auto-immune reactions:
- ADEM
- Guillain-Barr syndrome
- MS
I advise all my MS patients to refuse any vaccine unless cleared by me. I offer to discuss it with the doctor who recommends the vaccine, interestingly, I have yet to receive a call. As a rule I oppose Flu Shots and Hep B vaccines, as I have heard too many patients tell me how they developped either first symptoms or exacerbations within 3 weeks of vaccination against either Flu or Hep B.

[kathleen]

Okay, should have searched archives here before posting...it figures that you guys are all over this:)

[kathleen]

Although no one ever want to have the "vaccine" conversation with me, there is a doctor that I work with that doen't run me off immediately. I asked her what she thought of Hep B being associated with MS...her reply...oh no, that's not it, it's ADEM, very similar to MS, but not the same." So I asked, well does that bother you? SHe said it is a known side effect of vaccines.

[Kathy Blanco]

Mom with the CP child?

Look at immediate cord clamping as a co factor in this fine mess....I believe the both set up for autism, CP and other things. ACOG has also caused autism and CP in our children, without the mom knowing it. The cord blood stem cells are the motivation for this practice.

Do on line search DR MORLEY CORD CLAMP

[Jo]

Dr. James Howenstine explains it best -

"Naturally acquired immunity by illness evolves by spread of a virus from the respiratory tract to the liver, thymus, spleen, and bone marrow. When symptoms begin, the entire immune response has been mobilized to repel the invading virus. This complex immune system response creates antibodies that confer life long immunity against that invading virus and prepares the child to respond promptly to an infection by the same virus in the future.

Vaccination, in contrast, results in the persisting of live virus or other foreign antigens within the cells of the body, a situation that may provoke auto-immune reactions as the body attempts to destroy its own infected cells. There is no surprise that the incidence of auto-immune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, subacute lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, asthma, psoriasis) has risen sharply in this era of multiple vaccine immunization."

http://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james.htm

[Julie Swenson]

I have been reading that like MS, cerebral palsy is now also considered an auto-immune disease, rather than just a case of "trauma" before, during or shortly after birth (trauma from vaccines, maybe?).

My son (healthy, perfect Apgar score, no malformations of the brain, not premature and not sickly in any way...in other words, no predilection for a CP diagnosis) was diagnosed with CP at the age of 27 months after a continual downward spiral of vaccine-related regressions, resulting in landing in the ER for seizures (sound familiar, autism parents? ;o)...Until he received 12 month shots (6 shots at once, including MMR and chicken pox) he was developing just fine, and ahead of schedule in some cases. The neurologist said it was 'unusual' for a child to be diagnosed that long after birth. Well, duh, let's chalk this up to vaccine damage as well, shall we? I'm convinced that is was.

I wonder how many other conditions will ultimately be blamed (rightly so) on vaccine damage? When you have hundreds of thousands of people diagnosed with MS or CP and hundreds of thousands more with other auto-immune disorders, autism, ADD, ADHD, etc...you have to put two and two together and start to look at the common factors surrounding these people with those conditions and we know what that might be!

[anonymous antivaccinationist]

The lovely trojan horse we call Vaccine Court. By ruling in favor of a vaccine injured person, it corroborates the claims that antivaccine nuttery needs to justify their cause, while simultaneously exonerating the medical, (and by extension) scientific community in general, because the very nature of the court doesn't hold up to "scientific scrutiny". Then we get nowhere... for decades, it's perfect.

Destruction of the myelin sheath is not some revolutionary concept, which has clearly been recognized as plausible and a reaction to vaccine administration. Myelination continues in humans well into adolescence. If you pierce the skin, and bypass the mucous membranes and epithelial cells and give the vaccine (and its friends) direct access to the body's raw nerves, is it any surprise it has the capacity to cause nerve damage (lest we forget how jab happy the US is)? Silly me, it's attenuated - it causes no harm! That is unless parts of the innate response do not get engaged and the pathogen cannot be adequately eliminated. Surely it won't grow a mind of its own and adapt to its environment now would it? Evidently no one cares as long as we line up with our sleeves rolled up and participate in herd health management. Besides, humans are far smarter than the bugs they are trying to extinguish.

Better yet, how about we sue you for not participating for the greater good of society! They best get busy on that societal contract if they intend to bind me legally to this barbaric practice. If there are plans to move forward legally, I say... put up or shut up because the posturing and muscle flexing is making me ill.

AA

[John Fryer]

Let's not forget that mercury is still in many vaccines along with many other toxic chemicals.

In addition biological attack can be mounted by training the body to recognise protein fragments and destroy them. Pity if these fragments are part of our cells, blood and bone for the unlucky few.

The global rate of friendly damage seems to be around the 1 per cent level.

Looking at so called SBS cases of up to 2000 a year from a previous ZERO we see the injuries inflicted by vaccines are virtually unobtainable from the STRONGEST and MOST MALICIOUS, EVIL, ADULT MALE.

When the damage is TERMINAL at four months. After three rounds the KO. They bring up the triad for convictions but keep from view the damage to every bone that is so serious that a doctor SHOULD be able to spot in life.

The RIBBED bone. To me a feature of VACCINE HARM. And with 50 nodules evenly spaced an IMPOSSIBILITY to cause mechanically. But let's ADD to the triad for completeness and damnation of the vaccine dead child's parents and carers to put the BOOT in again.

Chemicals need to be treated with respect.

Vaccines need to be treated with the UTMOST respect.

And nurses and doctors that supply DANGEROUS CHEMICALS and VACCINES need to be TREATED.