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I am not sure I would call it “winning big”. This was the 3rd test case; the first 2 went against the child (parents).
And this case was not won, it was conceeded. There is a difference. If the case had actually been won, there would have been a precedent in vaccine court which would have been applied to any other case similar enough in details that would have aided future cases. Instead, the Feds basically took the equivalent to a “Kennedy plea” in criminal prosecution - they did not admit that thimerosal triggered autism, but they said they were unable to “fight” this particular case.
What remains to be seen now is what happens for this family. Typically, awards made by vaccine court are stupidly low. Average award for a child who diees from a vaccine is $75,000. Average award for a lifelong disabling injury is about $250,000. Considering an autistic child will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.5M for lifetime care (in 1999 dollars) the taxpayers are still going to be saddled with a huge bill over the course of this child’s life.
What IS important in this case, more so than any other factor, is that the govt. has acknowledged that thimerosal CAN trigger an underlying metabolic weakness that causes a child to regress in behaviors that are consistant with the diagnosis of autism. So the people at the FDA, CDC, NIH and other orgs who have been trumpeting for the last 10 years that this cannot and does not happen will have to now admit that it can and does. This is a vindication that is almost as important to many parents as when Rimland started the ball rolling on putting a stake through the heart of Bettleheim’s theory.
Some may think this a moot point since we are now told that thimerosal is no longer in vaccines, but that is also untrue. It is still in DTwP, one of the Hep B’s more than 80% of all flu shots, Tt, Td, Dt and the Rhogram shot given to expectant mothers. Additionally, it is still used in the formulation of all killed virus shots and then “filtered out” although testable trace levels still remain in the final product.
DISCLAIMER: I am the parent of an autistic child who was damaged by his vaccines, and who had detectable levels of mercury come out of him eight years later when he was chelated despite never eating fish and not having a single amalgam filling.
I am not sure I would call it “winning big”. This was the 3rd test case; the first 2 went against the child (parents).
And this case was not won, it was conceeded. There is a difference. If the case had actually been won, there would have been a precedent in vaccine court which would have been applied to any other case similar enough in details that would have aided future cases. Instead, the Feds basically took the equivalent to a “Kennedy plea” in criminal prosecution - they did not admit that thimerosal triggered autism, but they said they were unable to “fight” this particular case.
What remains to be seen now is what happens for this family. Typically, awards made by vaccine court are stupidly low. Average award for a child who diees from a vaccine is $75,000. Average award for a lifelong disabling injury is about $250,000. Considering an autistic child will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $3.5M for lifetime care (in 1999 dollars) the taxpayers are still going to be saddled with a huge bill over the course of this child’s life.
What IS important in this case, more so than any other factor, is that the govt. has acknowledged that thimerosal CAN trigger an underlying metabolic weakness that causes a child to regress in behaviors that are consistant with the diagnosis of autism. So the people at the FDA, CDC, NIH and other orgs who have been trumpeting for the last 10 years that this cannot and does not happen will have to now admit that it can and does. This is a vindication that is almost as important to many parents as when Rimland started the ball rolling on putting a stake through the heart of Bettleheim’s theory.
Some may think this a moot point since we are now told that thimerosal is no longer in vaccines, but that is also untrue. It is still in DTwP, one of the Hep B’s more than 80% of all flu shots, Tt, Td, Dt and the Rhogram shot given to expectant mothers. Additionally, it is still used in the formulation of all killed virus shots and then “filtered out” although testable trace levels still remain in the final product.
DISCLAIMER: I am the parent of an autistic child who was damaged by his vaccines, and who had detectable levels of mercury come out of him eight years later when he was chelated despite never eating fish and not having a single amalgam filling.