Forbes’ Willingham Wrong on Courts, Vaccine Injuries and Brain Damage
Emily Willingham’s missive on Forbes.com on 8/9/13, “Court Rulings Don’t Confirm Autism-Vaccine Link” was in response to a Whiteout Press article called “Courts confirms vaccines cause autism.” Willingham criticized the Italian courts for a decision last year where they ruled that an MMR vaccine caused a child’s autism. She criticized Italian Courts in general but sang the praises of the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP), for saving vaccine manufacturers millions because the United States is a “hyperletigious society” and life-saving vaccines need to be protected from the civil justice system. She incorrectly and selectively describes the Omnibus Autism Proceedings (she called them the “autism omnibus trial”), seizes the customary opportunity to criticize Dr. Andrew Wakefield and re-iterates the mainstream claim that the science against an autism-vaccine link is “overwhelming.” Willingham claims that the courts show that “vaccines don’t cause autism.”
Willingham’s perspective of the NVICP is shallow and naïve. A thoughtful review of the program reveals a justice venue that lacks compassion, abuses petitioners and their witnesses and has become a vassal of the pharmaceutical industry it protects. The truth is that the NVICP conceals the reality of vaccine injury by keeping vaccine injury victims out of the view of American citizens and juries.
The Omnibus Autism Proceedings ultimately denied justice to thousands of petitioners. The federal government’s Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation, which screens all the cases that enter the program, failed to disclose the fact that the program regularly compensated children for the vaccine induced brain damage who also had autism since its inception in 1988. These children were typically compensated for brain damage - the NVICP Table Injury called Encephalopathy - an acknowledged outcome of vaccine injury. Autism is a behavioral manifestation of brain damage in many of these cases. In the peer reviewed Unanswered Questions From the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program: A Review of Compensated Cases of Vaccine-Induced Brain Injury, (28 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. 480 (2011) Available at: http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol28/iss2/6) Holland, Krakow, Colin and I reported on 83 such cases after gaining access to a small percentage of the cases compensated over the past twenty years. Our two year investigation revealed that autism secondary to brain damage has long been understood within the NVICP. How clearly understood? Note this comment from a Special Master in the 2003 Kienan Freeman case:
“It was noted at the hearing that Kienan's neurologic disorder has features that might cause it to be labeled as "atypical autism," a condition within the category of "autistic spectrum disorder." (Tr. 103-108.) I note, however, that even assuming that Kienan's disorder is correctly classified within the "atypical autism" category, that is essentially irrelevant to my ruling concerning the entitlement issue in this case. As Dr. Kinsbourne explained, Kienan's autistic-type features seem to be a result of the brain damage that caused his severe mental retardation. (Tr. 9, 21-22.) As Dr. Kinsbourne further explained, brain damage is one of the many possible causes of autism.”
The statement that the courts show that “vaccines don’t cause autism” is false. Many cases in the NVICP show that vaccine injury can result in brain damage and that autism is often a result.
The United States government compensated vaccine injured children with autism years BEFORE. Dr. Wakefield published his paper. It has become fashionable for many journalists to attack Dr. Wakefield, restate that his paper on twelve children with autism was retracted and blame him for the association between autism and vaccines. In contrast, few journalists report that the man behind much of the government’s “overwhelming” scientific evidence – Poul Thorsen - is presently a fugitive from justice (http://www.jusice.gov/usao/gan/). He is charged with stealing over one million dollars from the Centers for Disease Control, the federal agency that funded his research. And Thorsen’s research – which is flawed in too many ways to list here - was cited over twenty times by Special Masters in the Omnibus Autism Proceedings. This felon is presently evading extradition in Europe. Willingham begins many of her articles with the statement "I write about the science they're selling you." If so, she ought to be writing about Poul Thorsen.
One can imagine that the Whiteout Press article “going viral” upset the legion of vaccine industry supporters who dominate the public discourse on this controversy. Willingham admits that the staying power of this debate “baffles” her. Does she consider that what motivates many (including me) is the desire for children to be protected from drugs that may be injuring them and justice for those injured? I invite her to read any of the case decisions on vaccine injuries from the NVICP. These legal decisions often describe the pain and suffering of vaccine injury victims who may well be impaired for the rest of their lives. Many cases result in death.
Does one case “prove” that “vaccines cause autism”?
No, but eighty-three cases - and more recent cases like Mojabi (SAEID B. MOJABI
and PARIVASH VAHABI, as legal representatives of their minor son, RYAN B.
MOJABI v. SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (06-227V)),
show a clear pattern. Vaccine injury can lead to brain damage - and autism. It
is time for serious, independent investigation of the health outcomes of those
compensated for vaccines. --Louis Conte
Louis Conte is the father of triplet boys, age
12, two with autism. He has over 28 years of experience in law enforcement and
the courts. Conte serves on the board of the Autism
Action Network (AAN). He is a co-author of Unanswered Questions from the
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.
Autism is the result of encephalopathy. Encephalopathy that underlies autism is also distinct. Language disorder is the most serious aspect of this encephalopathy, which also impairs environmental (not just social) awareness, and which underlies distinctive repetitive movements.
The neurologic deficits and many causes of this encephalopathy should have been understood decades ago. Oxygen insufficiency at birth should perhaps be considered the most frequent cause of autistic encephalopathy. I will continue to point out the article by William F. Windle in the October 1969 issue of the Scientific American. Windle’s research revealed that asphyxia at birth produces a specific pattern of bilateral symmetrical lesions in the brainstem [1]. Most severely affected are nuclei in the auditory pathway (like the superior olives and inferior colliculi).
Kulesza et al. reported “malformation” of the superior olive in brains from people with autism [2]. Lukose et al. then found the same malformation in laboratory rats exposed to valproic acid (Depakote) during gestation [3]. Prenatal exposure to valproic acid is associated with development of autism. The most recent paper by Lukose et al. continues their investigations of auditory disturbance in autism [4]. I responded to this report on the sfari.org website, and plan to add at least one more comment there.
Blood flow and metabolism are higher in nuclei of the auditory pathway than to any other area of the brain [6]. This is why the auditory system is vulnerable to decrements in blood flow and oxygen delivery. The auditory system is also vulnerable to toxic substances in the circulation (like valproic acid). Vaccine safety should be evaluated by toxicology research, not epidemiology.
References
[1] Windle WF. Scientific American. 1969 Oct;221(4):76-84.
See also http://iacc.hhs.gov/events/2008/slides_eileen_simon_112108.pdf
[2] Kulesza RJ et al. Brain Res. 2011 Jan 7;1367:360-71.
[3] Lukose R et al. Brain Res. 2011 Jun 29;1398:102-12.
[4] Lukose R et al. Autism Res. 2013 Jul 3 [Epub ahead of print]
[5] http://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/news/2013/controversial-study-uncovers-hearing-glitch-in-autism
[6] Kety SS. Bull N Y Acad Med. 1962 Dec;38:799-812.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1804882/?tool=pubmed
Posted by: Eileen Nicole Simon | August 13, 2013 at 07:03 PM
Thank you, Dorit Reiss. Makes me feel MUCH better to know that vaccines do not cause autism - that vaccines only cause damage that is EXACTLY the same as autism or that leads to autism. Very reassuring. I don't know what your motives are, but just as lawyers are trained to honor a duty to defend the guilty, surely on some level you are aware that this is what you're doing, voluntarily, without moral justification, and you should be ashamed of yourself.
John, you are a brilliant debater and despite all the vile thrown at you, you remain a gentleman. I can't tell you how appreciative I am to see you expose the idiotic tangle of semantic curve balls meant to distract, redirect and confuse.
Posted by: Linda | August 13, 2013 at 01:52 PM
An autism diagnosis is based on behaviors, but an underlying physical cause can be inferred. "Encephalopathy" takes us a step closer to the nexus between the brain and behavior, yet we're supposed to ignore that diagnosis and blame their autism on some physical cause which is so subtle it isn't detectable, but we just know it must be there. Well, how *is* their encephalopathy being manifested in these children?
From MedicineNet:
"Encephalopathy: Disease, damage, or malfunction of the brain. In general, encephalopathy is manifested by an altered mental state that is sometimes accompanied by physical changes....The causes of encephalopathy are both numerous and varied. Some examples of causes of encephalopathy include: bacteria, viruses, parasites...many types of toxic chemicals [such as] mercury, lead, or ammonia....Despite the numerous and varied causes of encephalopathy, at least one symptom present in all cases is an altered mental state....Often, symptoms of altered mental status can present as inattentiveness, poor judgment, or poor coordination of movements."
Posted by: Carol | August 13, 2013 at 11:23 AM
1988 try finding a lawyer that knew anything about the special court of vaccines.
The National Vaccine Information Center finally was able to scrap together a short list.
Now how do you work with a lawyer - three states away?
2000 - Still the same thing - still had to go to the National Vaccine Information Center for a short list -- although the list was a bit longer.
2005 - Still the same thing.
The Vaccine Compensation Court was and is what it was meant to always be -- as handsome (creepy) guys opened doors, bowed in politness, pulled chairs out for Barbara Fisher to sit down in - during Congressional decisions -- smoke and mirrors.
Posted by: Benedetta | August 13, 2013 at 11:10 AM
In looking at 700 responses to a natural health questionnaire (part of a 4,000 overall total in which I found no unvaccinated autistics) I was struck not only by the absence of autism in the unvaccinated group - but also - by the absence of virtually all common conditions against which people are vaccinated. Not only should there be a vaccinated vs unvaccinated study it should encompass all common conditions. I would bet money on not just autism being far less prevalent or even non-existent and I would confidently predict that the common conditions forming the substantial basis of 'health protection' immunisation would also be significantly less prevalent in the unvaccinated group.
This work should be routine, it is shameful in a modern and free world, 21st century society, that a frightened 'health' nomenklatura can exert sufficient influence to prevent this work being done. That the major nations' Free Press is so cowed by the threat of losing the advertising dollar that it will hardly speak about the subject, is no less shaming.
Tony Bateson, Oxford UK.
Posted by: Tony Bateson | August 13, 2013 at 11:09 AM
Lou
Yes, that's right vaccines don't cause autism even when they do. I have just been getting the same chopped logic conversation from Dorit Reiss (legal professor) of Voice for Vaccines on examiner.com.
Dorit says:
"Encephalopathy is not autism; encephalitis is not autism; a mitochondrial disorder is not autism; the government officials did not concede vaccines cause autism, in fact they said they did not. They did point out that some of the injuries cause by vaccines can have some of the symptoms of autism. In no case did the NVICP or another court in the U.S. compensate a child on the theory vaccines caused her autism. There is no credible evidence for such a link."
I reply:
"Dorit
"If you want to argue like that its up to you, and people can draw their own conclusions about your motives, but this is what they said:
""The government has never compensated, nor has it ever been ordered to compensate, any case based on a determination that autism was actually caused by vaccines. We have compensated cases in which children exhibited an encephalopathy, or general brain disease. Encephalopathy may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms including autistic behavior, autism, or seizures."
"Now, there is more than a touch of distinctions without differences about this (as Sharyl Attkisson was pointing out) but in so far as one can make sense of it the point is there is a mechanism (encephalopathy) which results in impairment (autistic behaviour, autism, seizures) and what you have to show is brain damage occurred as a result of the vaccine. But if there was no impairment it would be hard to argue that a case needed compensating, so they are forcing a point while admitting that autism is sometimes involved.
"Also, it is worth noting that in the statement "autism" and "autistic behavior" are symptoms of encephalopathy ("encephalopathy may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms including...") and there is no mention of "symptoms of autism", which is erroneously interpolated by you in order suggest it is not proper autism. But not only is this technically silly - another distinction without a difference - what concerns parents is not whether there is some Platonic ideal of autism to which their child's disability corresponds, but their often reasonable belief that their child has been damaged"
No answer of course.
http://www.examiner.com/article/anti-jenny-mccarthy-petition-authored-by-pharmaceutical-industry-cronies
How long can they get away with it?
John
Posted by: John Stone | August 13, 2013 at 07:12 AM
From US Court of Federal Claims:
"The Vaccine Act became effective October 1, 1988. It establishes the Vaccine Program as a no-fault compensation scheme whereby persons allegedly suffering injury or death as a result of the administration of certain compulsory childhood vaccines may petition the federal government for monetary damages. Congress intended that the Vaccine Program provide individuals a swift, flexible, and less adversarial alternative to the often costly and lengthy civil arena of traditional tort litigation."
I defy anyone, including Forbe's vaccine shill Ms. Willingham .. to claim the Vaccine Court has fulfilled the "intention of Congress" that it provide "INDIVIDUAL'S swift, flexible and less adversarial alternative to the often costly and lenghty civil arena of traditional tort litigation.
The Court has been a miserable failure on all counts .. except for providing a "no-fault compensation scheme (that word is their word .. not mine) whereby persons allegedly suffering injury or death as a result of the administration of certain compulsory childhood vaccines may petition the federal government for monetary damages"
Webster's defines "scheme" as .. among other descriptions .. a secret plan: plot"
This court is as big a problem as is the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System that openly admits (boasts?) it is likely they are receiving less than 10% of "voluntary reports" by medical professionals regarding adverse events following vaccinations.
Between the Vaccine Court and VAERS .. the Vaccine Act effective since October 1, 1988 .. has provided liability free protection for the vaccine industry .. at the expense and personal sacrifice of the people that Congress supposedly "intended" it benefit.
Folks .. we were duped by experts .. and .. we have paid a heavy price in personal sacrifice for believing the vaccine industry and public health bureaucracies that oversee it .. put their own vested interests aside in favor of the "spirit and intent" of Congress.
SHAME ON THEM .. but .. should WE really be surprised they hi-jacked the Court as easily as they did?
Posted by: Bob Moffitt | August 13, 2013 at 07:08 AM