"dr_jeff" wrote in message
...
The court is right on this one.

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/...,1003758.story

Yeah, right

SafeMinds: Federal Vaccine Court Rules Against Autism Families

Government's Refusal to Fund Sound Science Stacks Deck Against
Vaccine-Injured Children and Casts Doubt on the Integrity of the National
Immunization Program says SafeMinds.

Washington, D.C. - March 12, 2010 - Autism and mercury advocacy organization
SafeMinds regrets today's ruling by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims against
three families who argued that vaccines which contained the mercury based
preservative thimerosal contributed to their child's autism. The denial of
reasonable compensation to families was based on inadequate vaccine safety
science and poorly designed and highly controversial epidemiology studies
supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the defendant in
vaccine injury cases and is also responsible for carrying out the very
vaccine safety research that should be integral to court decisions. This
conflict of interest means the deck is stacked against families when they
enter "vaccine court" and is yet one more reason for parents to doubt the
integrity of the National Immunization Program.

"The government has its thumb on the scales of justice," said Laura Bono,
parent of a vaccine injured child whose case was dismissed. "The Vaccine
Injury Compensation Act passed by Congress in 1986 gave immunity to vaccine
manufacturers and diminished the incentive to create safer products.
Meanwhile, the law only gives the illusion that parents will have their day
in court. The process is dysfunctional and many families will not see
justice done."

Two HHS agencies, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), are responsible for conducting vaccine safety
research. Calling into question the scientific integrity of this research, a
top CDC funded vaccine researcher, Poul Thorsen, responsible for the
oversight of some of the most influential and controversial studies that
have been claimed as evidence for no link between autism and thimerosal, is
alleged to be under investigation when funding documents were found to be
forgeries and millions of dollars were missing.

The director of the NIH institute in charge of autism studies has admitted
that HHS has a conflict of interest in conducting autism-vaccine research
due to the court cases. Last year, the government dominated Interagency
Autism Coordinating Committee blocked critical vaccine-autism research
studies from moving forward. "The government must fund an extensive vaccine
safety program, including studies of the health outcomes of vaccinated and
unvaccinated children," stated Lyn Redwood, Vice President of SafeMinds.
"Trust in the immunization program will continue to deteriorate without
adequate and unbiased safety science."

Over 5,000 petitions have been filed in the vaccine court alleging that
vaccines caused a variety of damage to the developing brain, immune system,
and other metabolic pathways ultimately giving rise to a diagnosis of
autism. Already, the court has awarded approximately $5 million in
compensation for such cases, of which the Hannah Poling case is the most
well-known. Many of these cases were quietly settled by the government so
the public is not aware of them. Thus the court has already decided that
vaccine injury is linked to autism. Today's
ruling against families demonstrates that the process is arbitrary. The
question is not whether some cases of autism have a vaccine etiology. The
government has admitted that. The only remaining question is how many kids
have been injured - and what must be done now to treat these kids and
prevent further injury.

SafeMinds wishes to recognize the bravery and perseverance of the families
who now may face a lifetime of inadequate support for their disabled
children.

The Coalition for SafeMinds (Sensible Action for Ending Mercury-Induced
Neurological Disorders) is a nonprofit organization founded to investigate
and raise awareness of the risks to infants and children of exposure to
mercury from medical products, including thimerosal in vaccines. Further
information about SafeMinds and the harmful effects from mercury exposure
may be found at www.safeminds.org

SafeMinds | 16033 Bolsa Chica Drive #104-142 | Huntington Beach | CA | 92649