Dr. Offit in the Times
Thanks to Jodi, who pointed out this article about Dr. Offit, author of Autism’s False Prophets in the New York Times (in the comments on my post below).
One great quote:
Many doctors now argue that reporters should treat the antivaccine lobby with the same indifference they do Holocaust deniers, AIDS deniers and those claiming to have proof that NASA faked the Moon landings.
It’s a good read.
Laurie T. Said,
January 14, 2009 @ 8:12 am
What a great quote. Let’s hope some of the media take it to heart…
Truth19486 Said,
February 12, 2009 @ 9:44 am
12-Feb-2009 COURT RULING: Vaccine doesn’t cause Autism
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29160138/
[MSNBC.com] Court says vaccine not to blame for autism
Legal blow for parents who claimed measles shots caused disorder
The Associated Press
updated 10:39 a.m. ET, Thurs., Feb. 12, 2009
WASHINGTON – A special vaccine court ruled against parents with autistic children Thursday, saying that vaccines are not to blame for their children’s neurological disorder.
The judges in the cases said the evidence was overwhelmingly contrary to the parent’s claims — and backed years of science that found no risk.
“It was abundantly clear that petitioners’ theories of causation were speculative and unpersuasive,” the court concluded in one of a trio of cases ruled on Thursday.
The ruling, which was anxiously awaited by health authorities, was a blow to families who have filed more than 5,000 claims with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children.
To win, they had to show that it was more likely than not that the autism symptoms were directly related to the measles-mumps-rubella shots they received.
But the court concluded that “the weight of scientific research and authority” was “simply more persuasive on nearly every point in contention.”
The court still has to rule on separate claims from other families who contend that rather than a single vaccine, the culprit could be a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal that once was common in children’s inoculations. But in Thursday’s rulings, the court may have sent a signal on those cases, too.
“The petitioners have failed to demonstrate that thimerosal-containing vaccines can contribute to causing immune dysfunction,” a judge wrote about one theory that the families proposed to explain how autism might be linked.
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http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/11/autism.vaccines/index.html
(CNN) — A special court ruled Thursday that parents of autistic children are not entitled to compensation in their contention that certain vaccines caused autism in their children.
“I must decide this case not on sentiment, but by analyzing the evidence,” one of the “special masters” hearing the case said in denying the families’ claims, ruling that the families had not presented sufficient evidence to prove their allegations.
The decisions came in three test cases heard in 2007 involving children with autism that their parents contend was triggered by early childhood vaccinations.
The three families — the Cedillos, the Hazlehursts and the Snyders — were notified Wednesday night that a decision had been reached, as were the more than 180 lawyers collectively representing the 4,800 families with claims in the Vaccine Court Omnibus Autism Proceeding, said lead plaintiffs’ attorney Thomas Powers.
At 14, Michelle Cedillo can’t speak, wears a diaper and requires round-the-clock monitoring in case she has a seizure. Her parents say their only child was a happy, engaged toddler who responded to her name, said “mommy” and “daddy,” and was otherwise normal until at 15 months she received a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine combined with the preservative thimerosal, found in MMR and other vaccines at the time.
The government argued during the 2007 bench trials that the plaintiffs’ claims linking the vaccines with autism are not supported by “good science.”
Likewise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and the Institute of Medicine have found no credible link between vaccinations and autism.
Powers’ litigation steering committee is representing thousands of families that fall into three categories: those who claim MMR vaccines and thimerosal-containing vaccines can combine to cause autism; those who claim thimerosal-containing vaccines alone can cause autism; and those who claim MMR vaccines, without any link to thimerosal, can cause autism.
Thursday’s rulings will only affect the families that fall under the first category, Powers said.
Since 2001, thousands of parents of children with autism have filed petitions seeking compensation with the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program at the Department of Health and Human Services.
By mid-2008, more than 5,300 cases were filed in the program. Five thousand of those are awaiting adjudication, according to the agency.