It would be a big mistake to take the U.S. Court of Claims opinion issued Feb. 12, 2009 on the possible link between vaccines and autism as the last word on whether vaccination can contribute to the development of regressive autism in some children.

There are only a few biological mechanisms currently being argued in the U.S. Court of Claims by attorneys seeking to persuade the special masters making decisions about whether a child, who has regressed after vaccination into autism, can be awarded compensation. There are other plausible biological mechanisms that could be argued as well. For example, one of the most feared complications of both vaccination and viral and bacterial infections is inflammation of the brain, which can be manifested by many symptoms, including autistic behaviors. In fact, in the past, the U.S. Court of Claims has awarded compensation to children, who have suffered DPT and DTaP vaccine induced brain inflammation and suffered permanent brain damage, including symptoms of autism.

The U.S. Court of Claims Special Masters are hampered, as are doctors and parents, from considering evidence which has not yet been published in the medical literature regarding vaccine risks and potential associations between vaccines and the development of regressive autism. As was pointed out by a study published in the British Medical Journal (www.BMJ.com) the same day the U.S. Court of Claims decision was issued, there is inappropriate pharmaceutical industry influence on which vaccine studies do get published and widely cited in the medical literature. This fact should be taken into consideration when putting too much emphasis on the significance of the recent U.S. Claims Court decision.

Science is not static but evolving. What is thought to be a scientific truth today can be proven false tomorrow. The door is not closed on whether vaccines contribute to the development of regressive autism in some children. The answers will come when appropriate scientific investigation into why many children, who are healthy and then regress into autism after vaccination, is conducted by independent researchers without ties to industry or government agencies concerned about protecting the status quo.

For more information on parent concerns about the 1986 law that created the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, see: http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Awakening/December-2008/Vaccine-Injury-Compensation-A-Failed-Experiment-i.aspx

For more information on parent concerns about the lack of vaccine safety research, see: http://www.nvic.org/Vaccine-Awakening/April-2008/Vaccine-Risk-Research-Priorities.aspx