foodconsumer.org: Appeals court: vaccine does not cause autism

Appeals court: vaccine does not cause autism
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admin on 08/28/2010 22:30:00
 
A federal appeals court on Friday ruled against the families of autistic
children who claimed that vaccination led to autism, a disorder that now affects
one in 110 children in the  United States.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a ruling against
Michelle Cedillo of Yuma, Arizona last year by a special vaccine court. The
plaintiff is disabled with autism and autism related diseases like inflammatory
bowel disease; she believes vaccination led to her autism.
In 2009, Special Master Denise Vowell, cited by the AP, ruled that "evidence is
weak, contradictory and unpersuasive" to suggest that vaccines cause autism.
Vowell was cited as saying that the petition that vaccines cause autism was
based on bad science conducted to support litigation.
In the Friday ruling, the appeals panel agreed on the opinion of the special
vaccine court and said, cited by the AP, that "we have carefully reviewed the
decision of the special master and we find that it is rationally supported by
the evidence, well-articulated, and reasonable. We, therefore, affirm the denial
of the Cedillos' petition for compensation."
The ruling is considered a setback for more than 5,500 families seeking
compensation through the federal government's Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program, which is intended to give such compensation to those whose injury is
known to be caused by vaccines.
The link between autism or autistic spectrum disorder and  the
Measles-Mups-Rubella vaccine or MMR was revealed in a study led by Dr. Andrew
Wakefield and published in the Lancet - a prestigious British medical journal.
The journal later retracted the study report.
Many studies have suggested that other factors may affect the risk of autism.
Even Tylenol was linked in a study to an increased risk of autism.
Recently, Dr. John Cannell, a vitamin D expert and director of Vitamin D
Council, and colleagues proposed a theory which suggests that vitamin D
deficiency plays a role in the development of autism even though other risk
factors may also have an impact.
Parental autoimmune diseases may increase the risk of autism in offspring,
according to one study led by Keil A. and colleagues from the university of
North Carolina and GlaxoSmithKline and published in the Aug 25, 2010 issue of
Epidemiology .
Another study, led by Durkin M.S. and colleagues from the University of
Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, published in the Dec 2008 issue
of American Journal Epidemiology suggests that advanced parental age may be a
risk factor for autism.
Parental psychiatric disorders were also correlated with autism spectrum
disorders in their children, according to a study led by Daniels J.L and
colleagues from the University of North carolina and published in the May 2008
issue of Pediatrics.
Some studies even found that vaccines may slash the risk of autism.
One case-control study led by Mro?ek-Budzyn D of Jagiellonian University in
Krakow, Poland and colleagues showed that children who received MMR vaccines
were actually at a much lower risk of autism. The study was published on Dec 1,
2009 online in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal.
It's not easy to prove or disprove something in cases of drug safety, a health
observer commented, as most studies are sponsored and even directly conducted by
drug companies, meaning that there is always some conflict of interest.
By Jimmy Downs and editing by Rachel Stockton