Re: Fed's admit vaccine 'aggravated' autism

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Feds admit vaccine'aggravated' autismCritics: Ruling major concessionafter years of government denialsPosted: February 28, 20086:43 pm Easternhttp://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view & pageId=57629 The federal government continues to deny a link between vaccines andautism, but the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled in favor of achild alleged to have regressed into autism as a result ofvaccinations<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/the-vaccineautism-court-_b_88558.html>.Several of the vaccinations included the controversial mercury-basedpreservative thimerosal, points out the National Autism Association<http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/>, which sees the ruling asconfirmation of the claims of many parents."This case echoes the stories of thousands of children across thecountry," said NAA President Fournier. "With almost 5,000similar cases pending in vaccine court, we are confident that this isjust the first of many that will confirm what we have believed for solong & ndash; vaccines can and do cause children to regress intoautism."Fournier called on the Centers for Disease Control "to acknowledgethat the current vaccine schedule is not safe for every child and aswith the administration of any medicine, individual risks andsusceptibilities must be considered for each patient."The government's unprecedented concession & ndash; filed Nov. 9 andsealed to protect the plaintiff's identity & ndash; was obtainedthrough individuals unrelated to the case, said Kirby, authorof "Evidence of Harm: Mercury in Vaccines and The Autism Epidemic, AMedical Controversy."The concession was made by U.S. Assistant Attorney General Keisler and other Justice Department officials on behalf of theDepartment of Health and Human Services, the defendant in all vaccinecourt cases.A CDC panel, meanwhile, voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend flushots for all school-age children. The move would compel privateinsurers to cover the costs and require the CDC to make the vaccineavailable to anyone who can't afford it.The NAA criticized the CDC decision, noting thimerosal is still foundin flu shots recommended for children and pregnant women.Thimerosal in vaccines is suspected of causing brain damage andweakening the immune system, making some children susceptible laterto infection from measles, mumps and rubella shots.Kirby, writing for the Huffington Post, reported the government'swritten concession said the child had a pre-existing mitochondrialdisorder that was "aggravated" by her shots and ultimately resultedin a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, or ASD."This statement is good news for the girl and her family, who willnow be compensated for the lifetime of care she will require," Kirbywrites. "But its implications for the larger vaccine-autism debate,and for public health policy in general, are not as certain."The government's concession, he says, seems to raise more questionsthan it answers.The Department of Health and Human Services said its Division ofVaccine Injury Compensation, or DVIC, "has reviewed the scientificinformation concerning the allegation that vaccines cause autism andhas found no credible evidence to support the claim. Accordingly, inevery case under the Vaccine Act, DVIC has maintained the positionthat vaccines do not cause autism, and has never concluded in anycase that autism was caused by vaccination."Kirby said that for most affected families, the fine distinctionbetween claiming that vaccines did not "cause" autism but insteadaggravated a condition to "manifest" as autism is a fine distinctionthat is not so important.While it's too early to tell, he said, "this concession couldconceivably make it more difficult for some officials to continueinsisting there is 'absolutely no link' between vaccines and autism."It also puts the federal government's vaccine court defense strategysomewhat into jeopardy, he said."DOJ lawyers and witnesses have argued that autism is genetic, withno evidence to support an environmental component," he pointed out."And, they insist, it's simply impossible to construct a chain ofevents linking immunizations to the disorder. Government officialsmay need to rethink their legal strategy, as well as their publicrelations campaigns, given their own slightly contradictoryconcession in this case."The bottom line, he said, is that the public will demand to know whatis going on inside the U.S. federal health establishment."The significance of this concession will unfortunately be foughtover in the usual, vitriolic way & ndash; and I fully expect to beslammed for even raising these questions," Kirby writes. "Despitethat, the language of this concession cannot be changed, or sweptaway."The key words contained in the concession, he says, are "aggravated"and "manifested.""Without the aggravation of the vaccines, it is uncertain that themanifestation would have occurred at all," Kirby argues."When a kid with peanut allergy eats a peanut and dies, we don't say'his underlying metabolic condition was significantly aggravated tothe extent of manifesting as an anaphylactic shock with features ofdeath,' he continues. "No, we say the peanut killed the poor boy.Remove the peanut from the equation, and he would still be with ustoday."Whatever the government's further explanation, says Kirby, "theycannot change the fundamental facts of this extraordinary case: TheUnited State government is compensating at least one child forvaccine injuries that resulted in a diagnosis of autism. And that isbig news, no matter how you want to say it."

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