Associated Press - Government Concedes Vaccine Injury Case

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Associated Press - Government Concedes Vaccine Injury Case

Government Concedes Vaccine Injury Case

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE – 55 minutes ago

Government health officials have conceded that childhood vaccines

worsened

A rare, underlying disorder that ultimately led to autism-like symptoms

in

A Georgia girl, and that she should be paid from a federal

vaccine-injury

Fund.

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.

The government " has not conceded that vaccines cause autism, " said

Renzi, the lawyer representing federal officials, who have consistently

Maintained that childhood shots are safe.

However, parents and advocates for autistic children see the case as a

Victory that may help certain others. Although the science on this is

very

Limited, the girl's disorder may be more common in autistic children

than

In healthy ones.

" It's a beginning, " said Conway, a Boston lawyer representing more

Than 1,200 families with vaccine injury claims. " Each case is going to

have

To be proved on its individual merits. But it shows to me that the

Government has conceded that it's biologically plausible for a vaccine

to

Cause these injuries. They've never done it before. "

A lawyer for the 9-year-old girl has scheduled a news conference in

Atlanta

On Thursday. Her parents have declined to comment in the meantime

because

The case is not final and the payment amount has not been set.

Nearly 5,000 families are seeking compensation for autism or other

Developmental disabilities they blame on vaccines and a mercury-based

Preservative, thimerosal. It once was commonly used to prevent bacterial

Contamination but since 2001 has been used only in certain flu shots.

Some

Cases contend that the cumulative effect of many shots given at once may

Have caused injuries.

The cases are before a special " vaccine court " that doles out cash from

a

Fund Congress set up to pay people injured by vaccines and to protect

Makers from damages as a way to help ensure an adequate vaccine supply.

The

Burden of proof is lighter than in a traditional court, and is based on

a

Preponderance of evidence. Since the fund started in 1988, it has paid

Roughly 950 claims — none for autism.

Studies repeatedly have discounted any link between thimerosal and

autism,

But legal challenges continue. The issue even cropped up in the

Presidential campaign, with Republican McCain asserting on Friday

that

" there's strong evidence " autism is connected to the preservative.

The girl 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,

and

Often causes problems in brain functioning. It can lead to delays in

Walking and talking.

Federal officials say the law bars them from discussing the case or

Releasing documents without the family's permission. However, The

Associated Press obtained a copy of the concession by U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services officials.

According to the document, five vaccines the girl received on one day in

2000 aggravated her mitochondrial condition, predisposing her to

metabolic

Problems that manifested as worsening brain function " with features of

Autism spectrum disorder. " In the 1990s, the definition of autism was

Expanded to take in a group of milder, related conditions, which are

known

As autism spectrum disorders.

The document does not address whether it was the thimerosal — or

something

Else entirely in the vaccines — that was at fault.

A Portuguese study suggested that 7 percent of autistic children might

also

Have the mitochondrial disorder, versus one in 5,000 people — or

0.02

Percent — in the general population, said Dr. Marvin Natowicz, a

Cleveland

Clinic geneticist.

" Even if they're off by a factor of seven " and only 1 percent are

Afflicted, " it's still a striking statistic, " he said.

Others said they doubt the Georgia case will have much effect.

" No link between mitochondrial disorders and autism spectrum disorder

has

Been made in mainstream medicine, " said Dr. Pichichero of the

University of Rochester in Rochester, N.Y., who has consulted for the

Government on vaccines and has received speaking fees from vaccine

makers.

A decision is expected this spring on the first test case for a larger

Group of autism-vaccine claims, which are being heard in the U.S. Court

of

Federal Claims.

Reported cases of autism have been rising in the U.S., even after

Thimerosal was removed from most childhood vaccines. However, some

experts

Believe the rise is due to an expansion of the definition of autism and

Related conditions, and a desire to diagnose children so they qualify

for

Special services and aid.

Associated Press writer Gelineau in Richmond, Va., and medical

writer Mike Stobbe in Atlanta contributed to this story.

On the Net:

* U.S. Court of Federal Claims: http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov

* Vaccine injury fund: http://www.hrsa.gov/vaccinecompensation

* CDC autism page: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/index.htm

* American Academy of Pediatrics autism reports:

http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/oct07autism.htm

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jPIMulfcbi1seZqbdrRmkoVP20IgD8V7HCJ02