WASHINGTON
The Institute of Medicine said in 2004 there was no credible evidence to show
that vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal led to autism in children.
But thousands of families have a different take based on personal experience.
Some of them are going to court Monday as attorneys will attempt to show that
the mercury-based preservative triggers symptoms of autism.
Two 10-year-old boys from Portland, Ore., will serve as test cases to
determine whether many of the children and their families should be compensated.
Attorneys for the boys will attempt to show the boys were happy, healthy and
developing normally but, after being exposed to vaccines with thimerosal, they
began to regress.
Thimerosal has been removed in recent years from standard childhood vaccines,
except flu vaccines that are not packaged in single-doses. The CDC says
single-dose flu shots currently are available only in limited quantities. In
2004, a committee with the Institute of Medicine concluded there was no credible
evidence that vaccines containing thimerosal caused autism.
Overall, nearly 4,900 families have filed claims with the U.S. Court of
Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in
their children. Lawyers for the families are presenting three different theories
of how vaccines caused autism.
The Office of Special Masters of the claims court has instructed the
plaintiffs to designate three test cases for each of the three theories nine
cases in all and has assigned three special masters to handle the cases. Three
cases in the first category were heard last year, but no decisions have been
reached.
The two cases beginning Monday are among the three that focus on the second
theory of causation: that thimerosal-containing vaccines alone cause autism. The
plaintiff in the third case originally scheduled for hearing this month has
withdrawn and lawyers and court officials are working to agree on substitute
case.
Hearings in the test cases for the third theory of causation are scheduled in
mid-September.
Lawyers for the petitioning families in the cases being heard this month say
they will present evidence that injections with thimerosal deposit a form of
mercury in the brain. That mercury excites certain brain cells that stay
chronically activated trying to get rid of the intrusion.
"In some kids, there's enough of it that it sets off this chronic
neuroinflammatory pattern that can lead to regressive autism," said attorney
Mike Williams.
In the end, the families' attorneys hope to convince the special master
hearing their case that thimerosal belongs on the list of causes for the
inflammation that leads to regressive autism.
To win, the attorneys for the two boys, William Mead and Jordan King, will
have to show that it's more likely than not that the vaccine actually caused the
injury.
Many members of the medical community are skeptical of the families' claims.
They worry that the claims about the dangers of vaccines could cause some people
to forgo vaccines that prevent illness.
"I think that what's so endearing to me about the anti-vaccine people, is
they're perfectly willing to go from one hypothesis to the next without a
backward glance," said Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center
at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.
Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first
three years of life and affects a person's ability to communicate and interact
with others. Dr. Andrew Gerber, a psychiatrist, said that medical experts don't
have a comprehensive understanding of what causes autism, but they do know there
is a strong hereditary component.
Toxins from the environment could play a role, but currently, data does not
support that they do, Gerber said.
Arguments are scheduled to go on throughout the month. A final decision could
take several more months. Claims that are successful would result in
compensation taking into account lost earnings after age 18 and up to $250,000
for pain and suffering.
The families or the federal government can also appeal the decision of the
special master to the Court of Federal Claims or to a federal appeals court.
The court Web site says more than 12,500 claims have been filed since
creation of the program in 1987, including more than 5,300 autism cases, and
more than $1.7 billion has been paid in claims. It says there is now more than
$2.7 billion in a trust fund supported by an excise tax on each dose of vaccine
covered by the program.
Copyright 2008 Associated Press
