Parents Jon and Terry Poling spent eight long years fighting for compensation after their daughter Hannah developed autism following routine childhood vaccinations. In spring 2008 they received news of the decision they had long been waiting for – that the Vaccine Injury Compensation Programme were going to pay compensation.
Although the exact figure has not been disclosed, as the Polings are prevented by law from revealing the details of the case, in a press conference following the decision father Jon Poling stated: “the results in this case may well signify a landmark decision with children developing autism following vaccinations.”
Yet what the case has achieved is further confusion for parents. Immediately after that press conference, Julie Gerberding, the Director of Centres for Disease Control and Preventions responded by saying: “let me be clear that the government has made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism. This doesn’t represent anything other than a very specific situation.”
What Does The Poling Case Prove?
It was after 5 vaccinations, including MMR, Hib, diphtheria and tetanus, that 19 month old Hannah Poling developed symptoms of autism. She became lethargic, irritable, febrile and stopped eating. She had episodes of screaming, staring at lights and running in circles, all classic symptoms of autism.
Months later she was diagnosed with encephalopathy caused by a mitochondrial enzyme deficiency. This is a genetic disease which her mother also carries but shows no symptoms of autism and the Polings claimed that it was the vaccines or the presence of the preservative thimerosal in them that triggered Hannah’s autism.
For years federal health agencies and professional organisations have denied any link between vaccines and autism. However the decision in the Poling case appeared that the government was saying the opposite, that there was a link. Yet the immediate statement from the Director of Centres for Disease Control and Preventions, that this was a specific case with no proof of any link between vaccines and autism, once again made the government’s position clear.
The fact is that there is still no scientific evidence to prove a link between vaccines and autism. In a recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Paul Offit commented that, “the Vaccine Injury Compensation Fund should more vigorously define the criteria by which it determines that a vaccine has caused harm. Otherwise the message that the programme inadvertently sends to the public will further erode confidence in vaccines and hurt those whom it is charged with protecting.”
However, one must also bear in mind that Dr. Offit is the co-inventor and co-holder of a rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, for which he and his institution receives royalties, as well as being on the scientific advisory board for Merck. Therein lies the doubt for many parents, that what is missing is clear unbiased scientific evidence without the desire for protection of multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies.
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