Autism and Vaccines

Today's Atlanta Journal Constitution has an excellent article about an Athens, Georgia family that will receive compensation from the federal government for their 9-year-old daughter's autism.

Here are the first few graphs of the article, written by Alison Young:

Ga. girl helps link autism to childhood vaccines

By ALISON YOUNG
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/06/08

In a move autism family advocates call unprecedented, federal health officials have concluded that childhood vaccines contributed to symptoms of the disorder in a 9-year-old Georgia girl.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded the family of Hannah Poling of Athens is entitled to compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund, according to the text of a court document in the case. The amount of the family's award is still being determined.

The language in the document does not establish a clear-cut vaccine-autism link. But it does say the government concluded that vaccines aggravated a rare underlying metabolic condition that resulted in a brain disorder "with features of autism spectrum disorder."

Here are our observations:

1) Why has the federal government sealed the files in the case? What do they have to hide that is making them so secretive?

2) Hannah's mother is a nurse and a lawyer, her father is a neurologist M.D./Ph.D. with an impressive research and publication record. They are mainstream intelligent people who live in the south and who have been trained in American medicine and are a product of the American medical system. They believe there is a connection between their daughter's condition and the vaccines she was given at 18 months. Being catapulted into the limelight like this cannot be easy for them and they could not be making these allegations lightly.

3) The fact that a federal agency to compensate people who have been harmed by vaccines exists is proof enough, to us, that vaccines harm people. If vaccines were perfectly safe, tax dollars would not be spent to compensate people for vaccine-related injuries.

4) Although many mainstream conventional doctors are liable to look askance or even dismiss you from their practice, it is extremely important to make your own decisions about how and when to vaccinate your babies. We have all been trained to respect medical doctors and it is not an easy thing to oppose your doctor's recommendations and choose your own path for your child's health. Dads need to be supportive and vocal advocates for their babies.

5) If you choose to have your baby go to Well Baby visits (this is optional though your doctor will never tell you that!), you need to talk to your partner about vaccines beforehand, bring a list of questions to your health provider, and know that you have the right to delay vaccinating your baby, to do one vaccine at a time, or to decide to not do any vaccines.