Thursday, a United States special court denied a case that had been brought forth by three families who had claimed that a vaccine had caused their children's autism.

The Vaccine Court Omnibus Autism Proceeding ruled against the parents of Michelle Cedillo, Colten Snyder and William Yates Hazlehurst, who had stated in court documents filed that a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine had given rise to their children’s conditions by having mixed with other vaccine ingredients.

In the ruling concerning Cedillo, Special Master George Hastings, who has previously served as a tax claims expert at the Department of Justice, said that Michelle’s parents had not put forward sufficient proof demonstrating that they were entitled to an award on their daughter’s behalf.

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.

Instead of judges having been assigned to hear the cases, which were only merely test ones representing many other plaintiffs, three „special masters” served as judges.

The special masters inquired into whether a combination vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), mixed with a preservative called thimerosal that contains mercury, could have caused the three children’s symptoms.

After having reviewed tens of thousands of documents and following several hours of hearing arguments, Hastings stated that the evidence brought had not proven that thimerosal-containing vaccines could result in harming infants' immune systems.