WaPost: Parents Speak Out on Vaccine Settlement - Hannah

[Guest guest]

WaPost letter to editor

The article presents the point that there are many more mitochondria

irregularities than the type that affects Hannah and also presents that

mito problems can be acquired subsequent to birth.

" Hannah has a disorder involving her mitochondria, the energy factories

of cells. The disorder _ which can be present at birth from an inherited

gene or acquired later in life _ impairs cells' ability to use nutrients. "

Hannah's case prompts concern: What other types of susceptibility can

have result in severe adverse sequelae from vaccination incidents? For

instance, how many processes might transiently or chronically result in

a child having suboptimal nutrient status at the time of a vaccination

incident? I suggest that listmates write a letter to WaPost editor and,

among your several points, mention other kinds of susceptibility that

may be relevant. In other words, Hannah may well represent more general

phenomena not limited to her specific type of mito disorder.

Gerberding's denials are appropriate for a pharma-executive whose

company receives appx 1 billion dollars/year to promote vaccinations.

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United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation:

http://www.umdf.org/site/c.dnJEKLNqFoG/b.3041929/

foto: Hannah Poling, left, with her father, Jon Poling, right, are seen

before the start of a news conference, Thursday, March 6, 2008 in

Atlanta. Government health officials have conceded that childhood

vaccines worsened a rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to

autism-like symptoms in Hannah, and that she should be paid from a

federal vaccine-injury fund. ( AP Photo/W.A.Harewood) (W.a. Harewood - AP)

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Parents Speak Out on Vaccine Settlement

By MIKE STOBBE

The Associated Press

Thursday, March 6, 2008; 10:32 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/06/AR2008030602687.\

html

ATLANTA -- The parents of a girl who won a government settlement

described how their hearts were broken as they watched their healthy,

red-haired toddler transformed into an irritable, odd-behaving child

after she got several childhood shots.

" Suddenly my daughter was no longer there, " said Terry Poling, the

girl's mother, in a news conference Thursday. She and her husband Jon

said their daughter Hannah, now 9, has been diagnosed with autism.

The government has agreed to pay the Polings from a federal fund that

compensates people injured by vaccines. The amount of the settlement

hasn't been set yet. U.S. officials reject the idea that vaccines cause

autism, but they say that in this case the shots worsened an underlying

disorder that led to autism-like symptoms.

The Polings said five simultaneous vaccinations in July 2000 led to

Hannah's autistic behavior. She was about 18 months at the time.

U.S. health officials have consistently maintained that vaccines are

safe, and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

said Thursday that there was no change in that position.

" Nothing in any of this is going to change any of our recommendations "

about the importance of vaccines for children, said Dr.

Gerberding. " Our message to parents is that immunization is lifesaving. "

In the Polings' first appearance since their case became public this

week, the Athens, Ga., couple acknowledged their legal case never got to

the point where evidence was argued.

They called on the government to remove thimerosal _ a mercury-based

vaccine preservative _ from all flu shots. Thimerosal has already been

removed from other vaccinations given to children.

" Why take a chance? " asked Jon Poling, a 37-year-old neurologist.

The Polings, accompanied by Hannah, said that as a toddler, their

daughter was a bright child who could whistle on command. But almost

immediately after the vaccinations nearly eight years ago, she became

feverish and irritable. Then, her behavior gradually changed so she

would stare at fans and lights and run in circles.

" It wasn't like a switch being turned off. It was more like a dimmer

switch being turned down, " Jon Poling said.

Government health officials conceded that the vaccines exacerbated an

underlying condition and that she should be paid from the federal

vaccine-injury fund.

Autism advocates called Hannah's case a " landmark decision, " although

the Polings' own attorney disputes that.

" This was not a court decision, " said Clifford Shoemaker, who is based

in Vienna, Va. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services conceded

the case before the court was asked to make a determination, he added.

Government officials wouldn't discuss why they conceded this particular

case, but said people with pre-existing disorders can obtain

compensation under the program if they establish that their underlying

condition was " significantly aggravated " by a vaccine.

Medical and legal experts say the narrow wording and circumstances

probably make the case an exception _ not a precedent for thousands of

other pending claims.

" This does not represent anything other than a very special situation, "

said the CDC's Gerberding.

Hannah has a disorder involving her mitochondria, the energy factories

of cells. The disorder _ which can be present at birth from an inherited

gene or acquired later in life _ impairs cells' ability to use

nutrients. It often causes problems in brain functioning and can lead to

delays in walking and talking.

Experts argued over how common the disorder is, and by implication, how

many other vaccine cases might be affected.

" Most children with autism do not seem to have a mitochondrial problem,

so this association ... is probably relatively rare, " said Dr. Edwin

Trevathan, a pediatric neurologist who heads the CDC's birth defects center.

The United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based group

that raises money for research, says there are more than 100 types of

mitochondrial disease, and genetic tests can find only a couple dozen.

The Polings were exploring two theories about what happened to Hannah.

One is that she was born with the mitochondria disorder and the vaccines

caused a stress to the body that worsened the condition. The other was

that the ingredient thimerosal caused the mitochondrial dysfunction, Jon

Poling said.

Since 2002, the preservative thimerosal has been removed from shots

recommended for young children, except for some flu shots.

___

Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation:

http://www.umdf.org/site/c.dnJEKLNqFoG/b.3041929/