Thread by @Beck_Sall

I wrote the comment for this front page story about #MMR injury. Interesting quote from @NadineDorries a member of the powerful Commons Health Committee: ‘If an independent panel has reached the conclusion that there has been a link between the MMR...
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dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

...vaccine and the brain damage suffered by this boy, then it is fair to assume that there could be as many as thousands of children and parents in the same position.'

Was there an enquiry? Not a whisper. Parents continued to be gaslit and more children injured.
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@stkirsch

Robert Fletcher endures frequent epileptic fits and requires round-the-clock care from his parents Jackie and John, though he is not autistic.

He suffered the devastating effects after being given the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine when he was 13 months old.
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The Department of Health denied that the jab was the cause of Robert’s disability.

The judgment gave hope to thousands of parents whose children had been severely affected by routine vaccinations (but they never got their day in court. Legal aid awarded then denied!)
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A medical assessment panel consisting of two doctors and a barrister concluded that MMR was to blame.
They said: ‘Robert was a more or less fit boy who, within the period usually considered relevant to immunisation, developed a severe convulsion...
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...and he then went on to be epileptic and severely retarded.

‘The seizure occurred ten days after the vaccination. In our view, this cannot be put down to coincidence.'
#realnotrare
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FULL COMMENT: New hope for parents who claim MMR jab blighted their children
By SALLY BECK

For MMR campaigners, the Robert Fletcher ruling is a small but significant milestone in their efforts to prove that the vaccine is not safe for a few children, even...
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...though the Government insists it is and that serious reactions are rare.

The triple jab was introduced in 1988, and has been given to millions of children as part of their vaccination schedule, which includes inoculations for 12 diseases.
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The vast majority of children suffer no more than redness and swelling around the injection site or a fever that can be easily treated.

But a small number suffer serious reactions. The official figure is one in a million, but campaigners believe that is an underestimate.
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Up to 2,000 parents remain convinced their children have suffered significant harm from MMR but have been unable to prove it.

This new decision will give them hope, even though compensation panels do not officially recognise autism claims.
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Campaigner Polly Tommey, who edits the magazine The Autism File and believes her son Billy is autistic because of the MMR jab, says: ‘This is fantastic news. Now doctors can’t tell me that the MMR is safe.

'This payout is evidence that it is not safe. It’s ...
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...interesting that they will look at epilepsy and not autism. You have to ask why.
'Is it because the compensation would be billions?’
Parents tried to get the medical profession and the Government to investigate their claims that MMR damaged their children but have failed.
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A group of parents brought a case in 1993 which was blocked after their legal aid was withdrawn in 2003.

They claimed for various injuries including autism, Guillain-Barre syndrome, epilepsy, sensorineural deafness, diabetes and arthritis.
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Robert’s mother Jackie Fletcher, who set up the vaccine campaign group JABS, is one of a group of parents who continued to fight.

His compensation comes 12 years after the London-based paediatrician Andrew Wakefield claimed a link between MMR and autism.
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He was struck off this year after the General Medical Council judged his research to be flawed.

Claiming compensation for any vaccine-related disability is notoriously difficult.

Mrs Fletcher said: ‘Only one in 200 parents who applies to the VDPS is successful.
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'Claims for autism are not considered. There are 120 MMR cases waiting to be heard, but none is for autism.’

In America, 4,000 parents are claiming compensation for MMR damage, but again the courts will not officially look at cases where autism is mentioned.
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However, cases involving autism do slip through the net.

Bailey Banks, who suffered seizures 16 days after receiving the MMR jab and was diagnosed with pervasive developmental disorder, an autistic condition, was paid compensation.
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So was Ben Zeller, who suffered seizures, while Hannah Poling, who is autistic, was paid in secret.

Another 1,820 cases of brain damage caused by vaccines in the U.S., including MMR, have been settled in private.
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Mrs Fletcher hopes that the 2,000 families registered with JABS will be awarded legal aid to continue their cases. She says: ‘We plan to talk to our MP Andy Burnham about the anomalies in the Vaccine Damage Payments Act, the main one being that you can apply...
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...for compensation only if a child has died after the age of two.
'We have a number of children on our books who died younger after receiving MMR, but they are not eligible to claim.

'Most vaccines are given at two, three and four months old, so this rule makes no sense.
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‘Robert was 13 months when he had his seizure and, under the rules today, he wouldn’t be eligible to claim.’

@stkirsch @RobertKennedyJr @HighWireTalk @ChildrensHD @KLVeritas @KathyConWom @DrJackieStone @Jikkyleaks @jathorpmfm @docbiss @ClareCraigPath @ukmfa1 @naomirwolf
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