Looking Back: Court Rules No Connection Between Vaccines and Autism

A Court Decision That Should've Ended the Debate

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims weighed in and decided the fate of a controversial theory that links childhood vaccination to autism spectrum disorder. In three stunning decisions made between 2009 and March 2010, the court found that there was no link between MMR vaccines and the developmental disorder that has affected millions of children.

While the decisions were expected to be appealed by the lawyers of the 4,900 claimants (mostly, parents with autistic children), this ruling may have started the process of ending a decade old controversy that has led to an increasing number of parents refusing to inoculate their child for fear that it caused autism.*

Children with autism (or one of the conditions that fall within its spectrum) may have difficulties with social situations and verbal/non-verbal communications. Also, they will have repetitive behavior or exhibit excessive interest in a particular item or event.

The vaccine/autism link theory garnered a lot of support from groups who represented parents with autistic children.

The conditions can be mild - such as those who have Asperger's syndrome - or be so severe that they will be rendered dependent on someone for the rest of their lives. The court’s rulings support a broad scientific consensus on the issue. Over the years, countless studies have failed to find a link between the vaccine and autism.

The Flawed Science At the Heart of the Controversy

At the heart of the controversy is the MMR vaccine. This particular vaccine is given to children to prevent them from getting measles, mumps and rubella (hence, the name of the vaccine). For years, the vaccine used a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal (which is no longer being added to the vaccine). Mercury, a liquid metal often found in such things as thermometers, has often been linked or believed to be the culprit in many childhood disorders including autism. The decision does not make everybody happy.

The vaccine/autism link theory garnered a lot of support from groups who represented parents with autistic children. Also, celebrities such as actress/model Jenny McCarthy have spearheaded anti-vaccination groups that attracted media attention. And, some of the supporters are doctors and pediatricians who have encouraged some parents not to give the vaccines to their child.

This controversy has its link to (former) gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield M.D. of the Royal Free Hospital of London. In 1998, he published an article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, pertaining to a study he made on 12 highly selected children with severe bowel disease.

Despite not being a study originally meant to find a cause of autism, somehow and some way, Wakefield made his experiment about it. In his conclusion, he considered that some of the children had autism “and that the parents of these children reported observing the symptoms after they had their inoculations.”

Without further research, Dr. Wakefield jumped to the conclusion that the MMR vaccination was causing the condition. Many researchers have dismissed Wakefield’s article as inaccurate and dangerous. Then again, later findings revealed that Wakefield had an ulterior motive (more on that later).

As a result, there was a sudden outbreak of measles among non-vaccinated children in Ireland and Scotland.

Despite the inability of other researchers to replicate his findings, many parents believed Wakefield’s study and refused to vaccinate their children. As a result, there was a sudden outbreak of measles among non-vaccinated children in Ireland and Scotland.

Still, studies after studies have proven Wakefield’s study was seriously flawed. One six-year study failed to replicate his findings. Other studies were also made on the vaccine/autism link. Just about every one of them found no links.

What Really Happened

Also, it was later discovered that Wakefield received 400,000 pounds from lawyers trying to prove the MMR vaccine was unsafe. In addition, another report revealed that Wakefield was seeking a patent for his MMR vaccine.

Seemingly, politicians, news organizations, and celebrities held on to the vaccine/autism link.

Since then, Wakefield has been stripped of his duties at the Royal Free Hospital, and had his article retracted from The Lancet.

Unfortunately, not many people out there didn’t get the revelation of this. Seemingly, politicians, news organizations, and celebrities held on to the vaccine/autism link. As a result, the new anti-vaxxer movement grew internationally, including in the United States and Canada. To make this more damning, the likes of RFK Jr., Trump, and others led the movement that was based on a lie.

To this day, Wakefield remains unrepentant and now actively supports the numerous anti-vaccination movements in America and England. As for now, the link between vaccines and autism has been debunked by scientists, doctors, and the court of law.

Update*

When this article was written more that 15 years ago, anti-vaxxers were those that opposed vaccines because of the supposed autism link. Since then, it covers numerous vaccines including those for fighting COVID-19.

In the second Trump administration, the situation has gotten worse. Famously (or infamously) RFK Jr. is an ardent anti-vaxxer. He has pushed for removing mandatory childhood vaccinations and has made it difficult for the medical establishment to require patients to get these shots.

Lately, as of this new writing on the matter, there have been several outbreaks of measles in the United States. Although RFK Jr. and Trump have done some backpedaling on this matter, it still hasn’t stopped the outbreaks from happening.

Sources

1. Gever, John "Data Fails to Support Thimerosal-Autism Link": Medpage Today (2010)
2. Barret, Stephen: "Omnibus Court Rules against Autism-Vaccine Link": Autism Watch - defunct (retrieved 2010)
3. Carroll, Robert: "Skeptimedia": The Skeptic’s Dictionary (retrieved 2010)
4. Maugh, Thomas and Zajac, Andrew (March 13, 2010): "Vaccine courts rejects mercury-autism link in 3 test cases": The Los Angeles Times (March, 2010).