Court: Autism in three kids not caused by vaccines

The US Court of Special Claims has rules that three children with autism did not have it brought on by vaccination. The cases were brought before the court in 2007.

There are thousands of claims before the court that vaccines – or the mercury-containing thimerisol that once was in many vaccines -- have caused autism. But evidence has been scant to prove this.

The scientific community has also been vocal in vaccines’ innocence. The popularity of the vaccine-autism link has led to fewer parents getting their kids vaccinated, which reduces the herd immunity against disease like measles, which are becomes an epidemic in certain regions once again.

The special court hears evidence for the National Vaccine Compensation Board, which controls money given to those who claim to have damaged by vaccines. There is a $0.75 tax on each dose of vaccine to pay for the compensation, and the plaintiffs need not prove their case scientifically but merely show it as a possibility.