Posted on 03/31/2008 12:11:06 AM PDT by neverdem
ON March 6, Terry and Jon Poling stood outside a federal courthouse in Atlanta, Ga., with their 9-year-old daughter Hannah and announced that the federal government had admitted that vaccines had contributed to her autism. The news was shocking. Health officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at the American Academy of Pediatrics have steadfastly assured the public that vaccines do not cause autism. Now, in a special vaccine claims court, the federal government appeared to have said exactly the opposite. What happened?
The answer is wrapped up in the nature of the unusual court where the Poling case was heard. In 1986, after a flood of lawsuits against vaccine makers threatened the manufacture of vaccines for children, Congress created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, financed by a tax on every dose of vaccine.
As part of the program, a group of scientists, doctors and lawyers listed all the health problems that might be linked to vaccines. The oral polio vaccine could in rare cases cause paralysis, for example, and an early version of the rotavirus vaccine might cause intestinal blockage. (In the interest of full disclosure: I am a co-inventor and co-patent holder of a newer rotavirus vaccine.)
If, at a trial in a special court, a preponderance of scientific evidence suggested that a vaccine caused one of these problems, a family would be compensated quickly, generously and fairly. Because no one could sue vaccine makers without going through this special court, the number of lawsuits against vaccine makers fell drastically.
The system worked fine until a few years ago, when vaccine court judges turned their back on science by dropping preponderance of evidence as a standard. Now, petitioners need merely propose a biologically plausible mechanism by which a vaccine might cause harm — even...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ping
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His tone makes me think of Bill Clinton’s “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”
Only it’s Offit shaking his finger “vaccine’s cannot cause....”
Good article. I wondered what the decision could possibly mean when the language limited tghe finding to the Poling facts only. This helps clarify.
The author is correct. I don’t endorse not vaccinating children though I think fewer vaccinnes are needed and can be done at later stages of development.
Still, why is it that we have this strong and unprecedented increase in autism in our population? Sudden genetic failure? Residual nuclear radiation from the atmospheric tests?
Looking at the graphs, anyone with any honesty would be stunned to see how many children are afflicted compared to just a decade or so... And the one main change is the increase in numbers and combinations of vaccinations, earlier and earlier in the children's lives.
I for one am glad that the medical scientists and the doctors "see no evidence to support" a connection.
It certainly doesn't affect anything that they're making money from the same people that design and make the vaccines - and they're not their children, anyway.
There are about 1,000,000 things (chemical exposures and other environmental conditions alone) that correlate to the rise of autism. Perhaps it is linked to global warming!!11!!1!!
btt
Diagnosis is without question a lot of it.
Autism is usually "mental retardation" in poor inner city areas.
That has a lot of truth to it. The austism spectrum is quite wide, and many people who carry the diagnosis are very high functioning and make their own way in the world. In the past, they'd just be known perhaps as "a little different".
I have a newphew with Asperger's autism. If push came to shove, one of my daughters could probably be classified on the very end of the spectrum as well.
Going back in both our family and my sister in law's, there are relatives, who, had they been children of today, would no doubt carry the diagnosis.
They believe they're saviors protecting the masses from all manners of infectious diseases. Don't expect them to ever compromise or admit fault.
The Romans had lead pipes, we have infant vaccines.
This is not the politically correct answer but:
There is probably no true rise in the rate of autism. If you look historically at the rates of mental retardation and the rates of autism, the rate of MR started dropping when autism started getting diagnosed and the increase in autism is matched by a decrease in MR.
So what happened to ADHD? A few years ago it was the popular diagnosis for kids. Never hear about it anymore as autism it the latest ailment.
In 1986, after a flood of lawsuits against vaccine makers threatened the manufacture of vaccines for children, Congress created the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, financed by a tax on every dose of vaccine... Because no one could sue vaccine makers without going through this special court, the number of lawsuits against vaccine makers fell drastically. The system worked fine until a few years ago, when vaccine court judges turned their back on science by dropping preponderance of evidence as a standard. Now, petitioners need merely propose a biologically plausible mechanism by which a vaccine might cause harm...Thanks neverdem.
Don’t confuse journalism’s favorite story of the day with what is really happening.
If your kid can’t sit still in class, there is still a whole industry waiting to diagnose and treat.
If I was in school now, I would probably be on meds. However, back in the day, the principal applied the education board a couple of times and I did OK.
I feel sorry for young parents nowadays with the media, schools, doctors, friends telling them there has GOT to be SOMETHING wrong with their kids.
Kids aren’t allowed to be antsy, bored, tired, quiet, shy, outgoing, etc. etc. anymore. Crazy p.c. garbage.
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