ICARE 4 Autism

Many studies have looked at whether there is a relationship between vaccines and autism. The weight of the evidence indicates that vaccines are not associated with autism. But CDC knows that some parents and others may still have concerns about this issue. CDC is committed to protecting the health of children and to identifying the biological and environmental causes of autism and other developmental disabilities, so we will continue to study the role of vaccines. Click here to view a chart of CDC’s studies about vaccines and ASDs. Click here.

CDC Statement on Autism and Thimerosal

As the country's leading public health agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is committed to protecting the health of all Americans—including infants, children, and adolescents. CDC shares with parents and many others great concern about the number of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We are committed to understanding what causes autism, how it can be prevented, and how it can be recognized and treated as early as possible.

Why do many doctors and scientists believe that the MMR vaccine does not cause autism?
In 2000, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) at the National Academy of Sciences, at the request of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the NIH, conducted a review of all the evidence related to the MMR vaccine and autism. This independent panel examined completed studies, on-going studies, published medical and scientific papers, and expert testimony to assess whether or not there was a link between autism and the MMR vaccine. The IOM concluded that the evidence reviewed did not support an association between autism and the MMR vaccine. This and other conclusions from the IOM review were released in April 2001 (Immunization Safety Review Committee 2001).

Court Hears More Claims of Vaccine-Autism Link
By GARDINER HARRIS
From The New York Times, posted May 13, 2008

The United States Court of Federal Claims began another hearing on Monday to decide whether a vaccine additive led thousands of children to become autistic. The hearing is the second in a series of three in which the court is considering whether the government should pay millions of dollars to the parents of some 4,800 autistic children. In this hearing, parents are claiming that thimerosal, a preservative that contains mercury, damaged their children's brains. Thimerosal was removed from all routinely administered childhood vaccines by 2001. Every major study and scientific organization to examine the issue has found no link between vaccination and autism, but the parents and their advocates have persisted.

Debate Rages Anew on Vaccine-Autism Link: Vaccine Experts Say Government Concession Does Not Amount to Clear Connection
By DAN CHILDS ABC News Medical Unit
March 7, 2008

Top federal health authorities Thursday reiterated that vaccines do not cause autism after government health officials acknowledged that a vaccine, by worsening an underlying genetic condition, may have triggered autismlike symptoms in one girl. The case is viewed as an important milestone by autism groups that maintain that vaccinations are connected to autism. But Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emphasized that the concession should not be interpreted to mean that vaccines cause autism. "The government has made absolutely no statement about indicating that vaccines are the cause of autism, as this would be a complete mischaracterization of any of the science that we have at our disposal today," Gerberding said during a Thursday news conference. "I think we need to set the record straight on that."

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U.S. Government Concedes Vaccines Cause Autism
Monday, March 3, 2008 9:36 AM

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the federal agency that oversees the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recently conceded the first vaccine-autism case. This case was filed in the no-fault National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program as part of the Autism Omnibus proceedings in the U.S. Federal Court of Claims. It was one of the first three cases chosen that alleged Thimerosal in childhood vaccines significantly contributed to a child developing autism. Clifford Shoemaker, of Shoemaker and Associates of Vienna, Virginia, is the attorney of record in the Hanna Poling v. Secretary of HHS (case: 02-1466V). Experts filing on behalf of the petitioner, Hanna Poling, included pediatric neurologist, Dr. Andrew Zimmerman of Johns Hopkins University, and Maryland geneticist and epidemiologist, Dr. Mark Geier of the Genetic Centers of America. This concession shows the dishonesty of the continual media spin coming from public health officials and others who maintain there is no evidence that Thimerosal, or any other part of any vaccine, has ever caused autism or, for that matter, has harmed anyone in any way. The facts are that the Vaccine Compensation Act has already compensated over 2,000 individuals who proved that they were harmed by vaccines, resulting in settlements of nearly two billion dollars. Additionally, hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific/medical articles from some the world’s best universities have long implicated Thimerosal in vaccines as a causal factor in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism. Furthermore, in 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Government Reform Committee, after a 3.5-year investigation, concluded that Thimerosal caused the autism epidemic and that the FDA and health authorities were guilty of “institutional malfeasance” in covering it up. Evidence supporting the connection between mercury and autism include:

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CDC Statement on Autism and Thimerosal

Debate Rages Anew on Vaccine-Autism Link: Vaccine Experts Say Government Concession Does Not Amount to Clear Connection By DAN CHILDS ABC News Medical Unit March 7, 2008

Debate Rages Anew on Vaccine-Autism Link: Vaccine Experts Say Government Concession Does Not Amount to Clear Connection
By DAN CHILDS ABC News Medical Unit
March 7, 2008