There is no scientific evidence to prove childhood vaccines cause autism, according to a special court’s ruling on Thursday.

 

The Vaccine Court Omnibus Autism Proceeding ruled against the parents of Michelle Cedillo, Colten Snyder and William Yates Hazlehurst, all suffering from autism. The parents claimed that thimerosal, a preservative that’s no longer used in most routine children’s vaccines, caused autism in their children, a disorder marked by speech and social impairments.

 

The three families had requested payment to be made under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, which has a $2.5 billion fund coming from a 75-cent-per-dose tax on vaccines.

 

However, after having reviewed tens of thousands of documents and following several hours of hearing arguments, Special Master George Hastings, who has previously served as a tax claims expert at the Department of Justice, stated that the evidence brought had not proven that thimesoral-containing vaccines could result in harming infants’ immune systems.

 

“I further conclude that while Michelle Cedillo has tragically suffered from autism and other severe conditions, the petitioners have also failed to demonstrate that her vaccinations played any role at all in causing those problems,” Hastings added.

 

Doctors and other medical experts overwhelmingly welcomed the ruling, saying that it underlines once again that childhood vaccines do not cause autism.

 

“This is a real victory for children and a great day for science. I hope that this decision will finally put parents’ fears to rest,” said pediatrician Dr. Paul Offit, chief of Infectious Diseases and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

 

The ruling in these three cases is a first. More than 5,500 families are seeking compensation under the government’s Vaccine Injury Compensation program. They all believe that the vaccines given to their children in early infancy had caused them severe damage.