Family to Receive $1.5M+ in First-Ever Vaccine-Autism Court Award

[SugarShack]

http://www.cbsnews.com:80/8301-31727_162-20015982-10391695.html?tag=pop

CBS NEWS

The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffering for the first year alone.

In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah's care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child's lifetime.

Hannah was described as normal, happy and precocious in her first 18 months.

Then, in July 2000, she was vaccinated against nine diseases in one doctor's visit: measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and Haemophilus influenzae.

Afterward, her health declined rapidly. She developed high fevers, stopped eating, didn't respond when spoken to, began showing signs of autism, and began having screaming fits. In 2002, Hannah's parents filed an autism claim in federal vaccine court. Five years later, the government settled the case before trial and had it sealed. It's taken more than two years for both sides to agree on how much Hannah will be compensated for her injuries.

Read Sharyl Attkisson's 2008 report on Hannah Poling

In acknowledging Hannah's injuries, the government said vaccines aggravated an unknown mitochondrial disorder Hannah had which didn't "cause" her autism, but "resulted" in it. It's unknown how many other children have similar undiagnosed mitochondrial disorder. All other autism "test cases" have been defeated at trial. Approximately 4,800 are awaiting disposition in federal vaccine court.

Time Magazine summed up the relevance of the Poling case in 2008: ...(T)here's no denying that the court's decision to award damages to the Poling family puts a chink -- a question mark -- in what had been an unqualified defense of vaccine safety with regard to autism. If Hannah Poling had an underlying condition that made her vulnerable to being harmed by vaccines, it stands to reason that other children might also have such vulnerabilities."

Then-director of the Centers for Disease Control Julie Gerberding (who is now President of Merck Vaccines) stated: "The government has made absolutely no statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism. This does not represent anything other than a very specific situation and a very sad situation as far as the family of the affected child."

Read the newly-released decision on Hannah Poling's compensation.

more at link above...

[RC]

1. It's about time.

Good decision.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Interesting. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Hannah Poling does not have autism.

Both you and CBS is misrepresenting that fact.

[TBF]

4. And you have proof of that - where's your link? nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. She had encephalopathy, which resulted in autism-like symptoms.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/03/the_hannah_poling_case_and_the_rebrandin.php

If a coconut falls on Gilligans head and he wakes up with symptoms similar to autism, it does not mean that coconuts cause autism.

[TBF]

10. I understood the causation part -

they are probably using the word autism because it's easier than writing out the whole name of this condition that has autism-like symptoms. Agree that it is sloppy journalism.

I've often wondered about these claims though. I've had my children completely vaccinated, but they never give that many shots at once. I'm surprised the parents didn't question it at the time ... nine vaccines at once?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

12. Sloppy? No, purposeful misrepresentation.

"I've often wondered about these claims though. "

Shit's fraud.

[trotsky]

13. I saw that episode.

The professor cured Gilligan's autism with chelation therapy using parts from an old WWII rations kit they found on the island.

[Recursion]

23. DSM defines autism disorder entirely by its presentation

Maybe some of the confusion is that people think there is one cause for autism. That may be, but any presentation of the symptoms in the appropriate time frame meets the criteria. More confusion may come from the fact that ASD develops at the same age that children usually get vaccinations. And note that it is a negative diagnosis: symptoms not better explained by another disorder.

Here's DSM-4:

Autistic Disorder

A. A total of six (or more) items from (1), (2), and (3), with at least two from (1), and one each from (2) and (3):

(1) qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following:

(a) marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction

(b) failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

(c) a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people (e.g., by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest)

(d) lack of social or emotional reciprocity

(2) qualitative impairments in communication as manifested by at least one of the following:

(a) delay in, or total lack of, the development of spoken language (not accompanied by an attempt to compensate through alternative modes of communication such as gesture or mime)

(b) in individuals with adequate speech, marked impairment in the ability to initiate or sustain a conversation with others

(c) stereotyped and repetitive use of language or idiosyncratic language

(d) lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play or social imitative play appropriate to developmental level

(3) restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities, as manifested by at least one of the following:

(a) encompassing preoccupation with one or more stereotyped and restricted patterns of interest that is abnormal either in intensity or focus

(b) apparently inflexible adherence to specific, nonfunctional routines or rituals

(c) stereotyped and repetitive motor mannerisms (e.g., hand or finger flapping or twisting, or complex whole body movements)

(d) persistent preoccupation with parts of objects

B. Delays or abnormal functioning in at least one of the following areas, with onset prior to age 3 years: (1) social interaction, (2) language as used in social communication, or (3) symbolic or imaginative play.

C. The disturbance is not better accounted for by Rett’s Disorder or Childhood Disintegrative Disorder.

DSM-V's proposal is much simpler: http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=94#

[ZombieHorde]

32. Oh.........nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. What evidence do you have that she does not have autism?

or that CBS is misrepresenting that "fact"?

[trotsky]

6. The proof is in the court decision.

Nowhere in it is Hannah mentioned as having autism. Feel free to read it and prove otherwise.

[pnwmom]

9. That's because you make the meaningless distinction between

autism and autism syndrome.

There is no entity called "autism" that is distinguished from the symptoms of autism. She has them, and the Court ruled that they were the result of a combination of her underlying mitochondrial disorder and the vaccines -- the day before a healthy normal baby girl went into seizures.

Her mitochondrial disorder alone didn't account for her symptoms -- her mother had the same genetic predisposition and is perfectly normal. But she never had 9 infant vaccines in one day.

[trotsky]

11. There is no mention of an "autism syndrome" either.

Try again.

[uppityperson]

14. what evidence do you do she does? All I see is "autism-like symptoms"

[pnwmom]

24. All autism is, is a collection of symptoms. That's what any syndrome is.

There isn't an official autism "disease" entity that is separate from the syndrome of autism -- that is, the collection of symptoms. This girl doesn't just have a few symptoms, either -- she's not Aspergers or on the milder end of the spectrum. She has the full blown autism syndrome; and the reason the Court awarded $500,000 per year for her care is because her symptoms are so extreme, and she will be completely unable to care for herself -- for life.

Do you think it matters to her parents, or to any parent, what label is put on her condition? Whether it is "autism" or "autism syndrome" or "autism-like symptoms"? The point is that her symptoms -- the ones she developed within a day after 9 vaccines -- are devastating, that she'll never be able to care for herself, and that her care will be enormously expensive. The government didn't decide to award a half million a year just to be nice.

[uppityperson]

26. Does correct diagnosis matter? Well, yes, it does to most of us.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=222&topic_id=92499&mesg_id=92521

[pnwmom]

7. Maybe it's the first ever. Or maybe not.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/06/eveningnews/main3915703.shtml

While the Poling case is the first of its kind to become public, a CBS News investigation uncovered at least nine other cases as far back as 1990, where records show the court ordered the government compensated families whose children developed autism or autistic-like symptoms in children including toddlers who had been called "very smart" and "impressed" doctors with their "intelligence and curiosity" … until their vaccinations.

They were children just like Hannah Poling.

What's still being debated is whether the Poling case is an exception ... or a precedent.

[customerserviceguy]

15. Federal vaccine court

That's the part that stopped me. I don't remember studying that branch of the judiciary in school...

[Recursion]

17. Technically "The Office of Special Masters of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims"

http://www.uscfc.uscourts.gov/vaccine-programoffice-special-masters

I believe it has jurisdictions over all liability cases for vaccinations.

[customerserviceguy]

21. Ok, but you have to admit

that the misnomer it was called by would give a person pause...

[Recursion]

22. I guess

I'm not sure what a better name for a Federal court given jurisdiction over all vaccine injury or death claims would be.

[eyeofdelphi]

16. just want to point out

she didn't get 9 vaccines at once. that's what i thought at first too. it was vaccines for 9 diseases at once. i know measles mumps and rubella are in one vaccine together. and my son just had one called a DPT? something, for diptheria, pertussis, tetanus, and something else. so they do combine several diseases in one vaccine when they can. i can remember him getting 3 shots at once and some sort of liquid vaccine all at the same time. that seems to be pretty normal.

[tandot]

18. She had encephalopathy caused by a mitochondrial enzyme deficit

<snip>

Months later, with delays in neurologic and psychological development, Hannah was diagnosed with encephalopathy caused by a mitochondrial enzyme deficit. Hannah's signs included problems with language, communication, and behavior — all features of autism spectrum disorder. Although it is not unusual for children with mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies to develop neurologic signs between their first and second years of life, Hannah's parents believed that vaccines had triggered her encephalopathy. They sued the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for compensation under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) and won.

<snip>

Like the Werderitsh decision, the VICP's concession to Hannah Poling was poorly reasoned. First, whereas it is clear that natural infections can exacerbate symptoms of encephalopathy in patients with mitochondrial enzyme deficiencies, no clear evidence exists that vaccines cause similar exacerbations. Indeed, because children with such deficiencies are particularly susceptible to infections, it is recommended that they receive all vaccines.

Second, the belief that the administration of multiple vaccines can overwhelm or weaken the immune system of a susceptible child is at variance with the number of immunologic components contained in modern vaccines. A century ago, children received one vaccine, smallpox, which contained about 200 structural and nonstructural viral proteins. Today, thanks to advances in protein purification and recombinant DNA technology, the 14 vaccines given to young children contain a total of about 150 immunologic components.3

Third, although experts testifying on behalf of the Polings could reasonably argue that development of fever and a varicella-vaccine rash after the administration of nine vaccines was enough to stress a child with mitochondrial enzyme deficiency, Hannah had other immunologic challenges that were not related to vaccines. She had frequent episodes of fever and otitis media, eventually necessitating placement of bilateral polyethylene tubes. Nor is such a medical history unusual. Children typically have four to six febrile illnesses each year during their first few years of life4; vaccines are a minuscule contributor to this antigenic challenge.

More at:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp0802904

New England Journal of Medicine

[msongs]

19. or maybe its just that she had all 9 in one visit instead of weeks apart. hmmm nt

[SheilaT]

20. I really think it's a bad idea

to give multiple vaccinations in one visit. Of course, that's a lot easier for the doctor and for the parent to get it all over in one visit rather than in two or three.

Not that I think that vaccines cause autism, but so many at once could be a major challenge to the immune system.

I have a son who has Asperger's, which is on the autism spectrum, and occasionally someone will suggest to me that it was caused by vaccinations. No, I tell them. He was not like other children from day one.

[charlie]

25. I don't understand it either

How can provoking immune responses for 9 diseases at once be a good idea? If nothing else, it sounds like a great way to weaken you for other opportunistic infections.

When I was a kid, our family's immunization records were lost in a fire. My dad got orders to be stationed overseas and we were brought up to date over 10 miserable weekends. With the kind of assembly line medicine the military practiced back then, it wouldn't have been out of character for them to give us the shots in one go, but they didn't do it. Probably for good reasons.

[trotsky]

29. Given that an infant is exposed to potentially thousands of pathogens...

right in the environment, breathing them in, putting them in their mouth, or introducing them into the bloodstream when they scratch themselves... it's' really hard to make a case that even 9 weakened or killed viruses (and/or toxin samples in the case of DTP) is somehow a strain for our amazing immune systems.

[charlie]

33. I'm talking out of my hat, of course

I don't really know. It just seems that with the occasional marked reactions to innoculations, giving as many as 9 in a single session is unnecessarily toying with trouble. I agree that our immune systems are amazingly hardy; a normal kid will scrape/bruise herself, eat dirt, and kiss the dog in the course of a day (not to mention just breathing in a microbe infested world). But, if I were designing a "normal kid experience" regimen as public policy, I'd consider administering it serially to guard against the small but not insignificant outliers who might suffer compounded reactions.

I know single dose multiples like MMR are generally safe. But, upping the number to 9 would increase risk by a magnitude, no? The chances of compound reactions and their severity could very well be negligible -- again, I don't know. Is this common practice nowadays?

[HuckleB]

31. There's a lack of evidence to support that "it's a bad idea."

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/06/multiple-vaccines-infants-harmful-theory-disproved.html

[HuckleB]

27. This piece, and the links in this piece, cover this matter quite thoroughly.

Sharyl Attkisson blogs the Hannah Poling settlement
http://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/2010/09/sharyl-attkisson-blogs-the-hannah-poling-settlement/

[trotsky]

28. There's no need for facts when I've already made up my mind.

Duh! Hannah had autism. Her immune system was OVERWHELMED (I know this because I use Google and it just seems right) with NINE VACCINES AT ONCE, all injected directly into her brain by a cackling evil "western medicine" "doctor"! Who gave her amalgam fillings on the same visit! Oh and gave her juice with HIGH FRUCTOSE EVIL CORN SYRUP in it!

[Javaman]

30. ...

:spray:

[Orrex]

34. I won't know what to think until I hear Andrew Wakefield weigh in on the ruling.

[trotsky]

35. Dr. Mercola settles everything for me. n/t