CBS News Investigates
Family to Receive $1.5M+ in First-Ever Vaccine-Autism Court Award
By Sheryl Atkisson
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 dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffering for the first year alone.
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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. Hannah was described as normal, happy and precocious in
her first 18 months. Then, in July 2000, she was vaccinated against
nine diseases in one doctor's visit:
measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus,
and Haemophilus influenzae.
Afterward, her health declined rapidly. She developed high fevers,
stopped eating, didn't respond when spoken to, began showing signs of
autism, and began having screaming fits. In 2002, Hannah's parents filed
an autism claim in federal vaccine court. Five years later, the government
settled the case before trial and had it sealed. It's taken more than two years
for both sides to agree on how much Hannah will be compensated
for her injuries.
Read Sharyl Attkisson's 2008 report on Hannah Poling
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 disorder. All other autism "test cases"
have been defeated at trial. Approximately 4,800 are awaiting
disposition in federal vaccine court.
Time Magazine summed up the relevance of the Poling case in 2008: ...
(T)here's no denying that the court's decision to award damages to the Poling
family puts a chink -- a question mark -- in what had been an unqualified
defense of vaccine safety with regard to autism. If Hannah Poling had an
underlying condition that made her vulnerable to being harmed by vaccines,
it stands to reason that other children might also have such vulnerabilities."
Then-director of the Centers for Disease Control Julie Gerberding (who is now
President of Merck Vaccines) stated: "The government has made absolutely no
statement indicating that vaccines are a cause of autism. This does not represent
anything other than a very specific situation and a very sad situation as far as the
family of the affected child."
