Vaccine court is the popular term which refers to the Autism Omnibus Proceedings of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In 1986, the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) established a no-fault system for litigating vaccine injury claims against vaccine manufacturers. Under this law, all claims against vaccine manufacturers cannot initially be heard in state or federal civil courts, but instead must be heard first in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. This court is often referred to as the “vaccine court.” The United States Court of Federal Claims is an Article I court formed in 1982 as a successor to the Court of Claims. ... The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 (42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34) was enacted in the United States to reduce the potential financial liability of vaccine makers due to vaccine injury claims. ... Vaccine injury is a term used in both medicine and law to designate alleged injuries sustained by individuals subsequent to having been vaccinated. ... A vaccine is an antigenic preparation used to establish immunity to a disease. ... The United States Court of Federal Claims is an Article I court formed in 1982 as a successor to the Court of Claims. ...

National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act

Although the NCVIA requires vaccine injury claims to initially be brought before the “vaccine court”, claims can still be filed in civil courts if claimants lose. The federal court hears cases without juries and awards damages that typically are far below damage awards rendered in other courts. The damage amounts are often insufficient to compensate severely injured children^{[citation needed]}.In March of 2006, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that plaintiffs suing three manufactures of thiomersal could bypass the Court of Federal Claims (the so called “vaccine court”) and litigate in either state or federal court utilizing the ordinary channels for recovery in tort (Holder v. Abbott Laboratories Inc., 444 F.3d 383). The ruling is significant, since this is the first instance where a federal appeals court has held that a suit of this nature may bypass the “vaccine court”. The 5th circuit court reached its conclusion by first looking to the statutory intent of the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act and determining that the intent of the statute was to protect the manufacturers of vaccines. In this case, thiomersal is not a vaccine, but a preservative and as such, the manufactures of this preservative cannot share in the protection afforded by the no-fault regime ushered in by the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... The John Minor Wisdom U.S. Courthouse, home of the Fifth Circuit, New Orleans. ... For discussion on alleged health effects of thiomersal in vaccines, see Thiomersal controversy. ... Tort is a legal term that means a civil wrong, as opposed to a criminal wrong, that is recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. ... The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 (42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34) was enacted in the United States to reduce the potential financial liability of vaccine makers due to vaccine injury claims. ... The National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act (NCVIA) of 1986 (42 U.S.C. §§ 300aa-1 to 300aa-34) was enacted in the United States to reduce the potential financial liability of vaccine makers due to vaccine injury claims. ...

Proceedings

Currently, nearly 5,000 families are attempting to demonstrate that vaccines can cause healthy children to withdraw into uncommunicative, autistic isolation, despite most medical experts continued assertion that there is no link between vaccines and the onset of autistic symptoms. With the commencement of hearings in the case of Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services (Case #98-916V), the battle over vaccine injuries moved into the courts. A panel of three 'special masters' heard the first case of the historic Autism Omnibus Proceedings in June, 2007, but is not expected to announce any decision for several months. A boy with autism and his mother Autism refers to a spectrum of disorders, and lies somewhere under the umbrella of a greater encompassing spectrum, that of pervasive developmental disorders that involve the functioning of the brain. ... A special master, in law, is an authority appointed by a judge to make sure that judicial orders are actually followed. ...

The lead petitioners, the parents of 12-year-old Michelle Cedillo, asked the court to find that their child's autism was caused by common childhood vaccines. Her parents, Theresa and Michael Cedillo, allege that a vaccine preservative called thimerosal seriously weakened their daughter's immune system and prevented her body from clearing the measles virus after she was vaccinated at the age of fifteen months. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Special Master George Hastings, Jr., one of the three special masters hearing the case, said "Clearly the story of Michelle's life is a tragic one," while pledging to listen carefully to the evidence presented during the three-week hearing.

The precedent-setting case could pave the way for thousands of autistic children to receive compensation from a government fund set up to help people allegedly injured by the vaccines. National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (NVICP) was created to provide a federal no-fault system for compensating vaccine-related injuries or death. According to government health officials, victory by the plaintiffs could increase the number of children who are not given vaccines and fall sick or die from the diseases they prevent.

Gary Golkiewicz, chief special master in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, said he is aware of the ramifications of the proceedings, but indicated that the court's primary objective is simply to focus on whether plaintiffs can show a plausible link between vaccines and autism.

See also

• Controversies in autism
• Generation Rescue
• Thiomersal controversy
• Vaccine controversy

There is considerable disagreement over the exact nature of autism, however it is generally considered to be a neurodevelopmental condition which manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior. ... Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization which was founded by parents united by their belief that many childhood neurological disorders, such as autism, Aspergers syndrome, ADHD, speech delay, sensory integration disorder and other developmental delays, are the effects of a primary diagnosis of mercury poisoning and related complications. ... Following US government action to evaluate levels of environmental toxins, including mercury, it has been claimed, particularly in the context of lawsuits, that thimerosal in childhood vaccines could contribute to, or cause, a range of neurodevelopmental disorders in children, most notably autism and related Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs), or other... It has been suggested that Anti-vaccinationist be merged into this article or section. ...

External link

• USCourts.gov - 'Vaccine Program/Office of Special Masters: Omnibus Autism Proceeding'