Health Law
Case to Determine Vaccine-Autism Link
The U.S. Court of Federal Claims is set to determine whether the preservative thimerosal in vaccines can cause autism.
Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services is a test case, picked from more than 4,800 claims filed with the court, according to Legal Times. Three special masters will begin hearing the case on June 11.
The causation trial is crucial to a 1986 law setting up a vaccination compensation system, devised primarily for allergic reactions to the inoculations. The law resulted in a “torrent of autism claims,” the legal newspaper says.
Some physicians worry litigation over autism could mean the end of vaccine programs to protect the public from fatal diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough.
