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Family To Receive $1.5M+ In Vaccine-Autism Award
An anonymous reader, quoting from CBS News, writes "'The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million for her life care, lost earnings, and pain and suffering for the first year alone. In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah's care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child's lifetime. ... In acknowledging Hannah's injuries, the government said vaccines aggravated an unknown mitochondrial disorder Hannah had which didn't 'cause' her autism, but 'resulted' in it. It's unknown how many other children have similar undiagnosed mitochondrial disorders. All other autism 'test cases' have been defeated at trial. Approximately 4,800 are awaiting disposition in federal vaccine court.' How did this happen when all the scientific data points otherwise?"
Cue 100 bitter /. readers complaining because someone who is severely mentally disabled for life might have the benefit of some money to help support her. I deserve $20 million too - I'm healthy and wise but you all owe me because I'm a socially maladjusted geek and I want another iPod!!!
If you don't like it, get yourself a nationalised health service. I've had family members in the UK receive adverse neurological reactions to vaccines (nothing to do with autism) and a comparatively very small amount is paid directly because it's the health service's duty to look after sick people anyway.
This does not validate the views of the anti-vaccination brigade.
I wonder how often and loudly you'll need to repeat that in order for it to maintain its buffering effect against reality...
-FL
Yeah, slashdot, the "brains trust" (extreme sarcasm here) is familiar with immunology.
I'm out of here. Enjoy your cesspit.
But a rational examination and sifting through all the mountains of history and empirical evidence tells us that we simply cannot trust the people who make, promote, sell and administer these drugs.
I'd love to live in a Star Trek reality, where you can trust government and where everybody is truly striving through the application of honest science toward the very best we can be as a species. But there is no greed in Star Trek, and no psychopaths in power and no survival of the sneakiest doctrine in effect at all times.
Our world is not a sane and sensible Star Trek world, and to pretend otherwise, as much as our geek hearts may desire it, is suicidally naive.
-FL
Can't be difficult, just look at their handwriting. A five year old can do better.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
That girl now has a $20 million bounty on her head for her death. All taxpayers have an incentive to kill the child now.
Everything about this case is wrong. Negligence should be proven and whomever was negligent, should have to pay. She had an underlying disorder that was aggravated by a normal, required procedure? Life sucks and shit happens. No, it is not fair. Perhaps the doctors should have realized she had a mitochondrial issue although I fail to see how they would notice this unless there were grossly obvious symptoms beforehand.
Ultimately, I do not understand why this girl deserves better medical care than I do.
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen
Remember, kids, this is a conservative. Conservatives all believe that murdering an autistic child is an acceptable way to "solve" a political problem.
"We had the opportunity to interview Dr. Andrew Wakefield fairly recently, who is at the epicenter of the vaccine storm. Wakefield has indicated that vaccines, especially if taken in multiple quantities, may affect certain children who are predisposed to be injured by them. One of the results, he has suggested, that needs further study is a potential linkage between autism and vaccines" link
It's kinda like this... Think of your genetic structure as a series of ropes. Every time you are exposed to an environmental stressor (illness, mental stress, toxin), these ropes become a bit more frayed. Every person has as different set of ropes with varying thickness. Those who are exposed to vaccines may fray the autism rope until it snaps, and autism sets in. To those who think that vaccines are innocuous, I really have to LOL at you...
Seriously, leave the circus outside in the barn and the porta-potties.
Penn & Teller sell tickets like COPS, and they sure don't have any hand in dispensing remedy so they have no right to criticize until they theirselves have children with women rather than ass-delivered poo babies (they are both practicing homosexuals, if you haven't noticed).
I wouldn't doubt the troll I'm responding to might have the same IP address as the Moderator.
Again with the studies, story after story. Thanks I prefer hardcore research to a game of averages performed by students who would prefer to be sleeping off that hangover.
I am confused as well. My son is autistic and damned if I could tell you how that occurs. Maybe it's those fucking unconstitutional required vaccinations the morons have been experimenting with us for years, maybe its just crap. Maybe it's luck of the draw. I'd like to see more RESEARCH go into helping autistics than wasted on fingerpointing. Of course a government who experiments on its citizens needs dismantled and public executions enacted to all those officials still alive.
With current "studies" on the subject and opinions that swing back and forth and side to side, there is NO evidence to form an opinion either way. I'll go with a governmental admission of guilt.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
Trusting the word of someone in a profession where he/she inarguably knows more than you is not blind faith. It's called listening to your doctor. You're far more likely to be wrong or make a mistake than he/she is.
> Monetary awards merely increase costs without addressing quality of care issues.
This issue illustrates that Obama never truly wanted health care reform, he only wanted to extend insurance to more people. Perhaps this goal was noble - covering more people is good - but frankly I think it was little more than vote-buying, because without true reform health care will suffer for everyone and insurance costs will eventually crush us all. Here's why: the initial health care reform "debate" centered on evil doctors driving up costs by ordering all sorts of unnecessary tests. At the same time Obama refused to consider malpractice reform. So Obamacare will limit the amount of testing and the level of compensation doctors can get for their services while malpractice (insurance) costs continue to grow unabated. This means that possibly the only noble party in the health care debate, the doctors, are being squeezed. Smart, talented doctors will increasingly avoid high-risk areas of practice, many will simply choose other careers, and the quality of health care will degrade. In the end we, the people lose, only the lawyers will continue to "win" and it appears that even the Democratic party won't benefit from the vote-buying as the coming election is expected to be bloody for them.
Every vaccine we use could be manufactured to the same level of quality without mercury. The real dynamic is money.
"How did this happen when all the scientific data points otherwise?" Because all the scientific data does not point otherwise. You have to understand that you are under a huge misconception that there is no research that supports the vaccine autism connection, because you are listening to industry mouthpieces that say, "No evidence of any link" and then you guys spend all day parroting that line back and forth to one another, and you really believe that it is true. So of course this ruling sounds absurd to you. Paul Offit has admitted in the press that he is a "vaccine salesman". He flat out lies in the press, and you guys are just swallowing it with out asking any critical questions. That is not science. I have put together a page where I just started listing the research that supports the vaccine, autism theory. There are more than forty listed, and it is by no means a complete list. You can find it here: http://adventuresinautism.blogspot.com/2007/06/no-evidence-of-any-link.html And you need to pay attention to the completely absurd statements the government is making in regards to this case. An elementary school teacher would not accept such bad excuses from her students as they are offering to the public. Get this email from HRSA's communication office: "From: Bowman, David (HRSA) [mailto:DBowman@hrsa.gov] Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 5:22 PM To: 'dkirby@nyc.rr.com' Subject: HRSA Statement David, In response to your most recent inquiry, HRSA has the following statement: The government has never compensated, nor has it ever been ordered to compensate, any case based on a determination that autism was actually caused by vaccines. We have compensated cases in which children exhibited an encephalopathy, or general brain disease. Encephalopathy may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms including autistic behavior, autism, or seizures. Some children who have been compensated for vaccine injuries may have shown signs of autism before the decision to compensate, or may ultimately end up with autism or autistic symptoms, but we do not track cases on this basis. Regards, David Bowman Office of Communications Health Resources and Services Administration 301-443-3376" Read that again. Then let me translate this for you: The Office of Communications is saying that, 'We don't compensate for vaccine induced autism, we compensate for vaccine induced encephalopathy (which is just a term that means a change in brain functioning) that turns into autism. And also we don't track if encephalopathy turns into autism, even though most of the symptoms are seen in autism'. So according to this reasoning, guns cannot kill people, they just cause a perforation that "may be accompanied by a medical progression of an array of symptoms including , sepsis, serious blood loss, organ damage, symptoms of extreme pain or death. Also we just track gun related perforations, not whether or not they bleed or get infected or result in death". And if you have not seen the Head of CDC embarassing appearance on CNN, please take a few moments to watch this woman behave like an idiot trying to explain this case away: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh-nkD5LSIg&feature=player_embedded You all are very bright people who have been fed a line of garbage, and you are swallowing it. Please, start thinking critically about the messages that you are being fed by people with very vested interests in there NOT being an association between vaccines and autism. Hannah Poling, who had a Johns Hopkins neurologist for a father and a nurse/lawyer for a mother proved their case. HRSA conceded this case because her parents had closed every single way for them to wiggle out of it. Now there are more than 5,600 cases in that court. If HRSA admits that vaccines cause autism, that is more than 100 BILLION DOLLARS in pay outs. And there are 300,00
The risk is actually not slight or rare. CDC actually estimates that up to 2 percent of the population may have the same biochemical markers as Hannah Poling has. 1 in 50.
Coddled-brat-syndrome will never be solved medically.
I have nothing to add regarding the vaccination debate as I am not qualified, however our daughters case was also settled out of court, a few days prior to trial. It took almost 5 years. It was the largest settlement in Canadian history at the time. Let me explain a few things to people who may not understand.
Therapy is very, very expensive. Good therapists are close to $100.00 per hour and have a multitude of letters behind thier name on the business card. They deserve it. Now, I would venture a guess that there would be speech therapists, motor skills therapists, education therapists, PT, and probably Autism specialists in this case. Our expenses exceeded 250k one year, and have stabilized at around 100k.
A full time minder will be required. People who do this for a living are usually in great demand, and are expensive. The good ones anyway. Another 60k per year. Mom or Dad be the full time minder? Forget it. You couldnt handle it. Unless you have no other kids, no job, etc, even then you wouldnt have the qualifications.
Money....The money is not the parents money...it is HER money. Yes, the parents may disburse it, but if the child is a minor (as our daughter is), or unable to make rational decisions, then the goverment appoints an advocate to perform an annual review on expenditures, in Canada anyway. YMMV. We were advised to purchase an annuity tied to the cost of living index in our country, less 1 million for initial expenses such as a purpose designed house and lawyers fee's of 550k.
The parents will die. Who takes care of the child then? The money must be used to care for the child as long as she lives, which will be shorter than average by the way. Look up disabled people in the actuarial tables. We have made arrangements for this. We have no itention of fobbing the this off on her older brother. That would mean another life destroyed. Naturally he will oversee things though.
Lifestyle....If a speially designed Hummer is what they need, so what? A specially designed home? Again, so what? Its about the child, not the parents, but keep in mind that the parents lives are effectively over, or at least a "normal" lifestyle that is. Whats your one shot at life worth to you if I may ask?
I drive a 2005 Escape and live in a 1 bedroom condo after the divorce (80% of marriages dont survive shit like this). I work 60-70 hours a week. My portion of the award was less than 200k, as was my ex wifes. My other children received 50k each.
My ex lives in the custom house which was less than 500k. She works full time and drives a 2008 Santa Fe....pretty extravagant eh? yes, there is a special van. Quite expensive but she got it used.
Im sure I've left out quite a bit, but the point was dont just look at the big numbers and after all its only money. Sure, we need it it, but its just pieces of paper. Who gives a fuck about it. Awards like these are rarely given out except in catastrophic circumstances (Canada anyway) and I for one would give eveything I had, including my life, to be able to turn back time, but I cant. So you just soldier on.
Our goverment got in on the lawsuit as well. OHIP extrapoloated the extra costs that will be incurred over her expected lifetime (low 50's) such as tests, scans, etc, and sued for them. That came off the top as well, but was only a few hundred thousand.
The reality is that the diseases that vaccinations prevent are far more horrible than you can imagine...
Like chicken pox, rotavirus and the flu? I can imagine them. My kids have had them all and lived to tell the tale.
And almost no one was dying of measles by the time the vaccine was on the market in 1967.
But today we have had the idea foisted on us that chicken pox is as bad as small pox and measles = polio.
Children now have 70 doses of childhood vaccines recommended. 45 before the age of 18 months. I was born in 1969 and I only had 29 up until age 18 (and I was a Navy brat who had the hell vaccinated out of me, six polio shots) Most people my age got around 15 doses of vaccines.
So what was the mass plague that called us to triple the schedule in less than thirty years? Oh... vaccine makers got immunity from being sued if their products killed or maimed children!
So how many is too many? 70? 100? 150? And how many at once? Nine doses like Hanna Poling had? And for whom? She had zero symptoms of any mito dysfunction. So which kids can we OD on vaccines and which ones are at risk?
If it is completely immoral to give all children antibiotics, knowing it will kill some, is it moral to do the same with vaccines? And who decides?
Now, please read SLOWLY and try to understand the following. . .
Vaccines are a GOOD idea. Full stop.
The people today who produce, promote, sell and administer them are NOT trust-worthy. They are by degrees non-critical true-believers who render themselves incapable of preventing or solving the problems created by those who are deceptive or even merely incompetent.
Those two concepts are not the same, and repeating the first loudly doesn't make the other go away, nor will it. And it was this constant repeating that I was pointing out with my initial statement, (the statement you failed to understand). The irony here is as thick as peanut butter.
-FL
Everyone knows Pharma is corrupt. WE saw the hit list that Merck had in the Vioxx case to ruin the careers of doctors who were pointing out that the drug was killing people. But suddenly Merck is above reproach with MMR?
And you do know that FDA does not test vaccines right? They just rely on the safety testing that Pharma does. Super ethical Pharma.
But if I question the safety of giving MMR to every child (again, knowing it will kill and maim some and we are not even trying to find out who those kids are before hand to prevent this), at the same time as half a dozen other vaccines, I am suddenly anti-vaccine and worth of the ugliest slurs one can come up with?
How about we start thinking with some reason.
My father and his little brother contracted Polio in the late 1940s. Both made full recoveries and became naval aviators. Their father got it and died. They were 5 and 7 years old.
My son reacted to the very first shot he got, but they kept giving him a full load, and drove him into medical and neurological oblivion at 18 months old when they gave him seven doses of vaccine at once, that we have spent six years trying to recover him from. And after years of looking, I can find not one study that looks at what giving a child vaccines for Polio, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, HIB, Hepatitis B and Pnumococcal Meningitis all at the same time can do to him. There aren't any.
How about we try to find a happy medium between the two?
How 'bout we not demonize anyone who asked good questions about what the hell the vaccine program has become since Pharma was given a free ride?
How many is too many? 200? Because there are 100 more vaccines in the pipeline.
I'm not thick. I just don't trust anyones findings on any side of the table. If it isn't cover up, it's legal agendas,if it isn't someone regurgitating something someone said sometime, it's some other quackery from some other study for someone who has some cure. If it isn't one cure that will be debunked in a couple months, it's some study someone did on the fly to justify "government" money poured into their dept. and consequently their Mercedes.
Buddy I've heard just about every line of crap, opinion, conjecture and advise from friends, enemies, relatives and strangers for the last 18 years of his 23 that my son has had the diagnoses. If you think I would trust some "government experts" to tell me the sky is blue without I first look myself, you are pretty damned thick yourself.
If you think vaccines didn't do this, stick around a couple months for the next "study".
It gives you a lot of faith in science when one considers the agendas rampant in society that bias just about everything and everyone as I.Q. drops generation by generation.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
I also suspect that there is a link to the bowel. I don't know an Autistic kid who doesn't have bowel problems, but that is a limited view. For my son, treatment for Candida and the use of probiotics has helped enormously.
I have a friend from high school whose kid has seizures/autism/etc. They've found that a low-carb ("ketogenic") diet helps significantly.
Cayce gave a few readings about people with autism-like symptoms... One factor in the case were "adhesions" and scar tissue in the lacteals, the lymphatic channels which are attached to the small intestines. The scar tissue serves to short-circuit parts of the abdominal nervous system.
The treatment advised included castor oil packs and other therapies, which slowly dissolve the scar tissue and help stimulate normal lymph flow.
See my website, or send me an email for more information (james @ teslabox.com - I don't check ye olde yahoo acct too frequently).
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
www.teslabox.com