Parents claiming that the vaccine preservative thimerosal damaged their children’s brains and led them to show symptoms of autism, brought their case before the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington yesterday, Monday, the second case in a series of three where the court has to decide whether the US government should pay millions of dollars in compensation to the families of about 4,800 autistic children, reported the New York Times.

Thimerosal, which contains mercury and is used an antiseptic and antifungal preservative in vaccines and other medical preparations, is being routinely phased out of childhood vaccines.

As reported by ABC News, the current case concerns two 10-year old boys from Portland, Oregon, William Mead and Jordan King, who according to their parents’ lawyers, were developing normally until they were vaccinated. The lawyers said that mercury from vaccines containing thimerosal caused the boys to regress and start showing symptoms of autism, a developmental condition that usually appears in childhood and is characterized by difficulty in interacting and communicating with others.

This particular case is expected to last two or three weeks, and a decision will be made later in the year, wrote the New York Times.

At the centre of these three cases is that thimerosal alone is the cause of autism. A case was brought earlier this year, and another is yet to be heard. Last year, the court heard cases claiming that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccines, which contained thimerosal at the time, caused autism, and later this year, other cases will be brought claiming that MMR, with or without thimerosal, caused it.

These claims run counter to the vast majority of scientists and medical experts, backed by a considerable body of research, that have found no link between childhood vaccines (with or without thimerosal) and autism.

In the US, cases involving potential injury from a vaccine are brought before the special court under the provisions of the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, set up in 1986 and where people can file injury claims against the federal government instead of suing the individual vaccine companies or health provider that gave the vaccine. The court is financed by a tax on vaccines.

The court’s decision is made on the basis of balance of probability, the court weighs up if, based on the evidence submitted, whether the vaccine was more likely than not, responsible for causing the injury. If the government chooses not to respond by showing that the vaccine was not to blame, the claim is approved and the court makes an award to the plaintiff.

This is a much lower standard of “proof” than having to prove without any shadow of a doubt that the vaccine directly caused the the injury.

This was the basis on which in March this year, the court awarded damages to Hannah Poling, a 9-year old girl from Atlanta, Georgia, in a case where her parents claimed that vaccines had contributed to her autism by exacerbating an existing mitochondrial disorder. The case shocked the medical and scientific community, and the court’s decision was seen as further proof that “vaccine court judges turned their back on science by dropping preponderance of evidence as a standard” (New York Times, 31 March 2008).

The case of William Mead and Jordan King is also being presented as one where the boys had conditions that made them particularly vulnerable to the mercury in thimerosal.

According to Reuters, Tom Powers, attorney for the boys’ parents, said the “evidence is indirect and it is circumstantial but it is supportive of the general theory of causation”.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, around 1 in every 150 children has an autistic spectrum disorder which includes autism itself and Asperger’s syndrome.

There is a consensus of scientific opinion that genes probably play a key role, triggered by something in the environment, or even during fetal development, that affects the brain and leads to symptoms.

Despite the large body of scientific opinion that there is no proven link between thimerosal in vaccines and autism, there is a vociferous lobby determined to prove there is a large scale cover up.

Mike Williams, another laywer for the two boys, told the court:

“I think we will be able to convince you that the epidemic is real, that the increase is real.”

Government attorney Lynn Ricciardella said in her opening argument that the “debate is over”, and “there is no controversy”, reported Reuters.

Click here for “Background Information Re: Thimerosal/Autism trial” from the US Court of Federal Claims.

Click here for CDC information on autism.

Sources: New York Times, ABC News, Reuters, CDC.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD