Posted on the Pediatric SuperSite on November 21, 2009
Omnibus autism decision: ‘Good science wins out in the end’
Every year, Infectious Diseases in Children’s
editorial board votes on the top stories of the previous year, and this year,
the Omnibus Autism decision topped the list.
Paul Offit, MD, Chief of Infectious Diseases at Children’s
Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the editorial board, provided an
overview of these proceedings at the
22nd
Annual Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium in New York this
weekend.
Paul Offit
Photo by Michael P.
Hall
On Feb. 12, 2009,
a court of special masters ruled that the combination
of measles-mumps-rubella and thimerosol-containing vaccine does not cause
autism. The ruling involved three test families who have children with autism.
The families contended their children’s autism was triggered by a
combination of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccines and the preservative
thimerosal and were seeking to be compensated through the Vaccine Injury
Compensation Program.
About 5,000 families have filed lawsuits based on three areas: those who
believe the combination of the MMR vaccine and other thimerosal-containing
vaccines causes autism; those who believe MMR vaccines alone cause autism; and
those who believe thimerosal-containing vaccines alone cause autism
In his presentation, Offit noted that Andrew Wakefield, the physician
who sparked the initial scare over the safety of the MMR vaccine for children,
misreported results in his research, creating the appearance of a possible link
with autism, which led to many of these lawsuits. Several studies involving
thousands of children have since refuted this link.
Offit said he believes that a recommendation to remove thimerosol from
vaccines, despite limited evidence linking it to autism, galvanized
beliefs in that connection. Several studies that Offit mentioned, however,
refuted this link.
Offit said the ruling of the special masters in February “came out
on the side of science.”
“Science matters. I really do think that it is worth doing studies
because good science wins out in the end,” Offit said. “When you have
the science to back it up, you can better communicate with the press and to
the public.”
For a complete listing of the editorial board’s picks for
stories of the year, see the December issue. – by Colleen
Zacharyczuk
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